Study Finds Human DNA Variants that Relate to Severe COVID-19 Cases

After analyzing human DNA variants related to severe COVID-19 cases are also related to other serious medical conditions. This includes blood clots and altered autoimmune responses. The data used for this study came from a program by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which has one of the largest biobanks in the world. Examining a variety of DNA from them is ideal as the DNA could be exploited by Covid-19. After obtaining this data, the researchers began to look into whether any other health conditions were more likely to be associated with the variants associated with more severe Covid-19. 

In order for this to be done, over 1,500 phenotypes had to be examined. This means that the identifiable traits of disease were found using an electronic health record. According to one of the researchers, one of the things that stood out to them was the high number of immune mediated conditions that shared “genetic architecture” with severe COVID-19. These variants were associated with Covid-19 in the ABO locus. The patients carrying these variants were more likely to have conditions related to blood clots. However, some of the variants were associated with not some having some of these autoimmune conditions

This article gave me insight on how genetic variants could relate to the severity of Covid-19, which is something that I hadn’t thought about prior to reading this article about this study at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings within this study challenges some of the assumptions that are made about Covid-19. The research also shines a light on the risks that people with certain DNA are predisposed to. Linking genetic variations with data provided by biobanks is imperative and extremely valuable both in current and future crises. This is an article that shares the same topic.

The Struggle to Build a Massive ‘Biobank’ of Patient Data

There is much controversy on whether or not the project All Of Us Research Program is worth spending well over a billion dollars because it is expensive, it will take numerous years to complete and might be just too ambitious to take on. The objective of the project All Of Us Research Program is to take one million people in the United States, all from different backgrounds, cultures, racial and ethnic groups, and to have their genome sequenced and all health recorded from foods they eat to blood samples. This project is significant because it’s samples that are coming strictly within the United States population only to get coherent results. With the results collected, researchers are hoping to get all new insights on health information, diseases and genetics. So far with the project being three years in, it has not gotten very far (only about 1.7% of the completed project) because it is time consuming with collecting surveys and measurements from volunteers. They have not even started sequencing genomes yet due to low resources available. However, the project continues as it pushes through obstacles.

This is certainly not the first biobank to be performed but I think it sticks out from the rest and is an interesting project to follow through until completed. Even though this is a massive project that comes with a cost, I think it’s a project worth doing because researchers can conclude numerous health information from one project and can really reflect on the American population. Personally, I am curious how people are affected by environment, lifestyles and genetics and not just studied in small projects/group but more on a grand scale to understanding the reasoning on health information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/health/nih-biobank-genes.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

https://www.nature.com/articles/486141a