| The consumer DNA-testing company 23andMe made an announcement last week that no doubt struck many as peculiar: It, too, is getting in on Covid-19 research.
The company may be best-known for tests that tell consumers how German they might be or what their genetics say about a preference for cilantro, but its database is also a trove of DNA data that could contain useful insights into how the novel coronavirus works.
One mystery of Covid-19 is why it appears to affect some people so severely and others hardly at all. Age and whether someone has any other underlying conditions such as diabetes certainly present part of the answer, but even among seemingly healthy young people there is a tremendous variability in how sick people ultimately get.
Genetics could present some clues. 23andMe scientists plan to tap into its database of 10 million customers to hunt for genetic variants that appear to be more common among research participants who are sick with the virus. Beginning this week, the company hopes hundreds of thousands of 23andMe customers in the U.S. will sign up to participate in what’s known as a genome-wide association study.
The idea has a precedent: One mutation of the gene CCR5, for example, makes people who carry it resistant to HIV.
23andMe isn’t the only one interested in the question of how genetics might impact the virus’ toll. Pharmaceutical company Amgen has said it is working on developing coronavirus treatments utilizing antibodies that can attack the virus. To inform the work, it’s tapping into its Icelandic subsidiary, deCODE Genetics, to provide genetic insights from patients who were previously infected with Covid-19.
Kári Stefansson, founder and CEO of deCODE, said that the variability in how the virus impacts people ultimately contributes to its ability to spread: Those that remain healthiest are likely to spread it the most.
“The difference is so great, that this has to be a fairly obvious mechanism,” said Stefansson.—Kristen V. Brown |