Over 20 genetic variants that mean Covid could cause you serious illness

More than 20 genetic variants that leave some people predisposed to becoming severely ill with Covid have been identified by UK researchers.

The world’s largest study of the genetics of Covid discovered key differences in 16 genes of patients admitted to intensive care with the virus, including those linked to blood clotting and immune response.

It also confirmed the involvement of seven other genetic variations already associated with severe Covid discovered in earlier studies by the same team.

The research will act as a “road map” for new drugs that could target the genetic mechanisms that mean Covid is life-threatening for some patients.

Professor Kenneth Baillie, the study’s chief investigator, said: “These results explain why some people develop life-threatening Covid-19 while others get no symptoms at all. But more importantly, this gives us a deep understanding of the process of disease and is a big step forward in finding more effective treatments.

“It is now true to say that we understand the mechanisms of covid better than the other syndromes we treat in intensive care in normal times – sepsis, flu, and other forms of critical illness. Covid-19 is showing us the way to tackle those problems.”

The study was led by the University of Edinburgh with Genomics England and involved the sequencing of the whole genome of 7,491 patients treated in 224 intensive care units in the UK.

Their DNA was compared with 48,400 others who had not had Covid, participants in Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes project and 1,630 people who had mild Covid.

The study, published in Nature, found that a single gene variant called interferon alpha-10 was enough to increase a patient’s risk of severe disease.

This suggests that treating patients with interferon – proteins released by immune cells to defend against viruses – may help manage disease in the early stages.

The study also found that variations in genes that control the levels of a component of blood clotting – known as Factor 8 – were associated with critical illness. Factor 8 is the gene underlying the most common type of haemophilia.

Co-author Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, from Queen Mary University of London, said: “As Covid-19 evolves, we need to focus on reducing the number of people getting seriously ill and being hospitalised.

“Through our whole genome sequencing research, we’ve discovered novel gene variants that predispose people to severe illness – which now offer a route to new tests and treatments, to help protect the public and the NHS from this virus.”