South Asians are not genetically susceptible to severe Covid-19 infection, study finds

The genetic variants responsible for the severity of Covid in Europeans may not play a role in susceptibility to Covid in South Asians, a new study has revealed.

An international team of scientists conducted the study to find out why some people have more serious symptoms and side effects than others. The study analyzed the role of the DNA segment in determining Covid-19 outcome among the South Asian population.

The report, titled “Major genetic risk factor for severe Covid-19 shows no association between South Asian populations,” was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Our result reiterates the unique genetic origin of South Asian populations. A genome-wide association study dedicated to South Asian Covid-19 patients needs time for us in the Asian subcontinent, ”said Prajival Pratap Singh, lead author of this study.

“In this study, we compared infection and case fatality rates with South Asian genomic data over three different time periods during the pandemic. We especially looked at a large number of populations from India and Bangladesh, ”said Dr Thangaraj, director of the Center for Fingerprinting and Diagnostic Research and Chief Scientist at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).

The study also found that genetic variants, correlated with Covid-19 outcomes, differ significantly between castes and tribal populations in Bangladesh. “Scientists working in the field of population studies should be more careful in interpreting their results by differentiating between castes and tribal populations, more explicitly in the Bangladeshi population,” said Professor George van Driem, co-author of the study.

“With the growing data, it becomes quite clear that there are several factors, including genetics, immunity and lifestyle, that contribute to susceptibility to Covid-19. CCMB’s expertise in population studies is proving useful in understanding these details of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, ”said Dr Vinay Nandicoori, Director of CCMB.

Previous research conducted on the European population has suggested variations in a specific DNA segment strongly associated with severe Covid-19 infection. The study found that this DNA segment was present in 50 percent of South Asians compared to 16 percent of Europeans.

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