Its called the OAS1 gene. It is present in sub-Saharan Africans.
It was lost in europeans when they migrated out of Africa.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/worl...thal-gene-could-protect-against-covid-19.html
Actual study is here: shttps://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.13.20212092v4
Strangely as early as April 2020, scientists had began to question this genes' relation with covid 19. ( https://selfdecode.com/blog/article/oas-1-antiviral-defense-146 ).
A specific form of a protein passed down from Neanderthals protects against severe COVID-19, and medications that boost levels of this protein could potentially help treat the disease, according to a study reported on medRxiv on Thursday ahead of peer review. The protein, called OAS1, is involved in the body's response to viruses. People with higher levels of the Neanderthal-related form of OAS1 are less susceptible to COVID-19, and if they do become infected, they are at lower risk for hospitalization, intubation and death, the researchers found.
"This protective form of OAS1 is present in sub-Saharan Africans but was lost when the ancestors of modern-day Europeans migrated out of Africa. It was then re-introduced into the European population through mating with Neanderthals" who lived more than 40,000 years ago, said coauthor Brent Richards from the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in Montreal. An earlier study linked a cluster of genes inherited from Neanderthals to higher risks of hospitalization from COVID-19. "These findings further implicate Neanderthal ancestry in COVID-19 severity," Richards said.
It was lost in europeans when they migrated out of Africa.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/worl...thal-gene-could-protect-against-covid-19.html
Actual study is here: shttps://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.13.20212092v4
Strangely as early as April 2020, scientists had began to question this genes' relation with covid 19. ( https://selfdecode.com/blog/article/oas-1-antiviral-defense-146 ).
A specific form of a protein passed down from Neanderthals protects against severe COVID-19, and medications that boost levels of this protein could potentially help treat the disease, according to a study reported on medRxiv on Thursday ahead of peer review. The protein, called OAS1, is involved in the body's response to viruses. People with higher levels of the Neanderthal-related form of OAS1 are less susceptible to COVID-19, and if they do become infected, they are at lower risk for hospitalization, intubation and death, the researchers found.
"This protective form of OAS1 is present in sub-Saharan Africans but was lost when the ancestors of modern-day Europeans migrated out of Africa. It was then re-introduced into the European population through mating with Neanderthals" who lived more than 40,000 years ago, said coauthor Brent Richards from the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in Montreal. An earlier study linked a cluster of genes inherited from Neanderthals to higher risks of hospitalization from COVID-19. "These findings further implicate Neanderthal ancestry in COVID-19 severity," Richards said.
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