Over three years have passed since the first reported case of COVID-19. There have been hundreds of millions of reported instances since then. You and almost everyone you know have likely had it at some point, maybe even numerous times. Fewer and fewer individuals are able to say they have never been exposed to COVID-19 as new waves of illnesses continue to hit.
Nevertheless, there are likely still some individuals who have avoided contracting the virus entirely, even when accounting for those who have had it without realizing it. My article from last year dealt with those who had not yet contracted the virus. Were they protected in some way? What was the source of their success? Were they just staying away from people and being cautious? Alternatively, did they simply get lucky and their turn will come around eventually? We don’t know why certain individuals have been protected from COVID-19 for so long, but it’s a known fact that some have.
In 2020, we witnessed an incredible surge in research aimed at better understanding SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for COVID-19) and creating effective therapies and vaccines for it. However, it is challenging to maintain such a high level of financing and cooperation in a world with so many promising research subjects. The fact that some individuals have never contracted COVID-19 has prompted researchers to investigate the possibility that a genetic component is at play.
The COVID Human Genetic Effort, coordinated by scientists from the United States, has enlisted volunteers who have been exposed to the virus but not infected. People who have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, such as a healthcare provider or a family member, are at risk.
Researchers want to analyze their DNA for any rare mutations that might account for their apparent immunity to SARS-CoV-2. This might be due to a change in a gene responsible for mounting an immune response to infection, or it could be a mutation in a receptor or enzyme required for the virus to enter our cells. Genome-wide association studies, which attempt to find abnormalities in human DNA, have previously shown genetic alterations that render certain individuals immune to illnesses like HIV and norovirus (the winter vomiting bug). Theoretically, we could utilize this information to protect individuals from a virus if we could determine what makes certain people resistant to it.
There is currently no vaccine or therapy for norovirus, despite our knowledge of the genetic abnormalities that protect a fortunate few. Furthermore, the ethics of the now-famous “CRISPR babies” (many newborns born in 2018 whose genes had been modified to make them resistant to HIV) were called into question.
Mutations in numerous genes may work together to protect certain individuals from contracting COVID-19, rather than just one. It would be challenging to use this information to develop effective anti-COVID-19 medicines because of the difficulty of simultaneously targeting several genes without producing undesirable side effects.
However, learning about the COVID-19 resistance mutations should help researchers better understand the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infections. That is to say, it could be intriguing from a scientific standpoint, but it might not be therapeutically applicable. We won’t know for sure until these trials are completed, but researchers suspect that certain individuals may be genetically predisposed to resist SARS-CoV-2.
While SARS-CoV-2 continues to infect patients all over the globe and continually mutates and evolves into new varieties, the severity of the disease has been considerably decreased because to excellent vaccinations.
Long-term COVID affects an estimated two million individuals in the United Kingdom, with roughly one-fifth reporting severe symptoms that prevent them from engaging in daily life.
Long-term CMV infection is a mystery; we have a few ideas about what can cause it, such as blood clots and inflammation, but no solid evidence to support any of them. Instead of concentrating on the genetic factors that influence whether or not an individual will develop immunity to SARS-CoV-2, maybe we should look at the possibility that certain individuals have a hereditary predisposition to a debilitating chronic illness.
