Genes may cause severe COVID 19

Even though COVID-19 is not a major issue to most people in 2024, researchers are still interested in learning why it had certain affects. The article discusses how researching about covid-19 is important since we get a better understanding of how the immune system reacts when it comes into contact with a pathogen. Especially, the research can be useful if another pandemic occurs in the future and we can be better equipped with knowledge on how to combat it.

The TLR7 gene is responsible for determining a person's reaction to the virus. Those who had a mutation in the gene causing it to be nonfunctional were more severely affected by the virus. Additionally, this gene is only found on the X chromosome which posed further questions since women have two and men only have one. Thus, women could have two chances at a functioning TLR7 gene but researchers still found that women frequently had the mutated TLR7 gene. Some research suggested that the "broken" TLR7 gene could influence function in the "healthy" copy.

This makes sense why many people had different reactions to covid. It makes me wonder if this gene is also why some people felt fine after the first vaccine but worse after the second and vice versa. I also wonder if this gene had any role in if someone was asymptomatic or not. Definitely an interesting study that brings about a lot of other questions.

Gene Editing In Chickens Provide First Steps in Creating Influenza A Virus Resistant Chickens

 

Picture: Genetically edited chicken that is resistant to an avian influenza infection (right) and unedited bird (left).

A group of researchers recently created influenza A virus (IAV) resistant chickens using CRISPR/Cas9 to generate homozygous gene edited chickens containing two ANP32A amino acid substitutions that prevent viral polymerase interaction. The study saw 90% effectiveness in chickens with low exposure; however, higher doses resulted in breakthrough infections where the IAV was able to adapt and work around the one genetically modified gene. Additional genome editing to eliminate other ANP32 protein family members eliminated all viral growth in chicken cells. This data illustrates a proof of concept in the generation of IAV-resistant chickens and shows that multiple genetic modifications will be required in order to stop viral mutations from bypassing the genetic modifications. An issue that other scientists are worried about is that IAV is a quickly mutating virus and the battle of genetic engineering will be constant (I refer to this as "job security"). There is likely not going to be one solution, but numerous that have to be implemented all at once and changed depending on viral variations. This method would also need to be used to modify other genes for other avian flus in order to prevent other dangerous strains. Creating healthier livestock is just one goal of this kind of research, the other is to prevent avian influenza viruses from mutating into a disease that can affect humans. In protecting livestock, human exposure to the virus should decrease. In a similar manner to the low doses in chickens not being able to adapt to create breakthrough infections, if human exposure is low there should be little chance of breakthrough cases. Since the virus is in wild bird populations, the spread of the disease is inevitable; however, by minimizing exposure, and maximizing resistance in chickens, people can ensure a safer future with fewer pandemics and more chicken nuggets.

I personally have no problem with eating genetically modified organisms. They do testing to make sure that the food won't hurt people, and to me genetic modifications are like selective breeding, but with less possibilities of making accidental monstrosities (like the pug) and reducing the time it takes to get the desired result. If GMOs are going to be necessary to ensure the health of livestock and people I welcome this kind of scientific development, though other people may not be as enthusiastic about it. In my personal opinion, I am more concerned with chlorine washes applied to chicken after butchering the bird than a gene changed to protect the organism from a virus.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/science/bird-flu-chickens-crispr.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41476-3

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-editing-chicken-resistant-bird-flu

A Study Finds a New Mutation That May Have Led To the Coronavirus Transmitting to Humans

 

(“Food Safety and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” U.S Food & Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19. )

        A recent study shows that the strain of coronavirus that swept the world in a devastating pandemic may have been able to infect humans via one mutation. This mutation, called T372A, is predicted by researchers to cause sugars that generally coat the virus's spike proteins not to be present. Researchers also indicated that the sugars obstructed the virus from getting into cells. The T372A mutation seems to enable the spike proteins of the Covid-19 virus to stick to ACE2 (a human version of a host protein). This mutation replaces the amino acid threonine with the amino acid alanine. This change led to the sugars of the spike protein no longer appearing on the protein's surface. The virus can utilize the ACE2 protein to infect humans.

Moreover, researchers found that viruses with this mutation could latch onto human cells more efficiently than the non-mutated version of the virus. Lab studies conducted by researchers found that the virus could replicate more efficiently in lab-grown human lung cells compared to the non-mutated version of the virus. While this discovery is a critical step to understanding how the virus was transmitted from humans and its origin, scientists note that it's likely a combination of mutations led to this occurring. By understanding what changes in the genetic sequences of the coronavirus led to its high transmission rate and its jump to infecting humans from animals, it can be treated more efficiently, and spread can be stopped to prevent another pandemic.

Link to the article: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-mutation-pandemic-covid-genetics-bat-human

Link to the study: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00833-3

The Gene That May Have Made COVID-19 More Contagious

 

    With over a year since the rise of COVID-19, which has changed almost everyone's lives, there has been a constant effort by people all over the world to research and find a way to get ahead of this virus. In this article on The Scientist written by Abby Olena, there is a discussion about a specific mutation that has arisen within the virus and how it may be giving it higher transmissibility.

   The 614g variant is being researched and though it has not been definitively confirmed, there appears to be a relationship between the mutation and the virus's ability to spread more efficiently. While looking at many cases of the virus in the UK and also looking at animal testing, patterns were observed. When someone was infected with the virus that contained this mutation, they also typically had significantly more viral particles found in their respiratory tract. With more of the viral particles found in the respiratory tract, there would be a greater probability of spreading the virus to another person, giving it a new advantage. Though, reading articles like this one can be quite discouraging, the research that has been and that is still being done to understand the virus is crucial. Any and everything that we can learn about COVID-19 and how it functions gets us closer and closer to a solution.

Additional Links

 https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201113/study-new-coronavirus-mutation-accelerates-spread