– The Conversation – Home – Asymptomatic COVID-19 is linked to a gene variant that boosts immune memory after exposure to prior seasonal cold viruses

Genetics may play a role in COVID-19 disease severity. BlackJack3D/E+ via Getty ImagesThe Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea A common genetic variant explains why some people are asymptomatic after being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, according to our recently published study in the journal Nature. Early in the pandemic, we were intrigued that many people did not develop COVID-19 symptoms while still testing positive for it. Because asymptomatic people are unlikely to seek medical help, we knew that collecting DNA samples to study the role of genetics in asymptomatic infections would be difficult. So instead, we took advantage of existing genetic data stored in the Be…

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