PARIS — Scientists said Friday they had identified genetic variants that made patients more likely to develop severe COVID-19, in a breakthrough that could see new and existing drugs help patients survive the illness.
To determine why some people develop severe lung inflammation when sick with COVID-19, researchers analyzed mutations on the genomes of more than 2,000 critically ill patients across Britain.
They compared their genetic make-up to that of a control group and identified as many as eight sequences that were more common among the COVID-19 patients.
They found that these sequences are involved in the body’s inflammatory response and how the immune system battles pathog…
Keep on reading: Study: Genetic variants linked to severe COVID-19