Genes inherited from Neanderthals complicate the course of coronavirus

Genes inherited from Neanderthals complicate the course of coronavirus

As scientists have found, the genes that modern people inherited from Neanderthals increase the risk of complications from coronavirus and can provoke a severe course of the disease, — reports the magazine «Profile».

The gene that increases the likelihood of respiratory failure is believed to be present in 16% of Europeans and almost 50% of South Asians.

The study authors believe that this group of genes previously belonged to Neanderthals. According to them, a resident of Bangladesh is at particular risk, where more than 60% of the population are carriers of the gene. Only the inhabitants of Africa are out of danger.

To date, more than 33.8 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the world. More than 1 million of them are already fatal.

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