Scientists have identified a gene that may provide protection against the new, more severe strain of COVID-19 currently circulating in the UK. According to a study reported in the medical journal medRxiv, people with a protein called OAS1, given to them by the early Neanderthals, are more likely to survive the new strain of COVID-19. The study is awaiting peer review before publication on medRxiv.
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Who are the Neanderthals?
Neanderthals are a group of extinct homo sapiens, who lived throughout Euroasia about 40,000 years ago. Neandertals are believed to have become extinct due to competition with modern humans, major climate change, unknown disease, or a combination of all of these factors. It is believed that people living in the sub-Saharan region carried the OAS1 gene and the protective protein. The protein was lost after modern-day Europeans emigrated from Africa, but is believed to have returned through courtship with Neanderthals.
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Earlier, a study had shown that people with Neanderthals DNA are at risk of developing severe Covid-19 disease. According to the study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute in Germany, people with Neanderthal genes are at higher risk for hospitalization and respiratory failure infected with COVID-19.
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The new strain of COVID-19 was discovered in the United Kingdom earlier this month but is believed to have been present since September. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on December 2 that a tighter Tier-4 lock would be suspended to prevent the new variant from spreading. However, since the new strain in the UK was discovered, a number of other changes have been found in other parts of the world, including South Africa and Nigeria.
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