UK: Fatal gene that doubles risk of lung failure from Covid mostly found in South Asians

Scientists at Oxford University have discovered a gene that can double the risk of lung failure and death in those who are contracted COVID-19.

The study, which was published in Nature Genetics, seeks to find out why some communities in the UK and South Asia are at higher risk from Covid.

They uncovered a “relatively unstudied gene called LZTFL1” which appears to stop cells in the airways and lungs from responding to the virus properly, potentially leading to respiratory failure and death.

They say that around 60% of people from South Asian backgrounds and 15% of people of European ancestry carry the high-risk version of the gene.

It is found in about 15% of those with European ancestry, while only 2% of people with Afro-Caribbean ancestry carry the gene.

Vaccines are key and help significantly reduce these risks, the researchers have asserted.

Professor James Davies, who led the study, said the discovery shows the “way in which the lung responds to the infection is critical”.

 “The reason this has proved so difficult to work out is that the previously identified genetic signal affects the ‘dark matter’ of the genome,” he said.

“We found that the increased risk is not because of a difference in gene coding for a protein, but because of a difference in the DNA that makes a switch to turn a gene on,” he added.

The research was conducted by an artificial intelligence algorithm that had been trained by the team to analyse huge quantities of genetic data from hundreds of types of cells from all parts of the body.

The researchers hope that drugs and other therapies could target the mechanism that prevents the lung lining from responding as it should.

(With inputs from agencies)