A gene that more than doubles the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been trying to understand why, even among people of a similar age, some contract it asymptomatically and others struggle for their lives without always winning the battle.

Thanks to the research conducted by scientists from the Medical University of Bialystok, we are getting closer and closer to understanding this phenomenon. In the project led by prof. dr. hab. n. med. Marcin Moniuszko and dr. hab. n. biol. Mirosław Kwaśniewski managed to identify a genetic variant that more than doubles the risk of severe course and death from COVID-19.

It is estimated that even 14% of Poles have it, although in the overall European population it occurs with a frequency of about 9%. According to the authors of the finding, it could h...