Two research teams from the Antoine Lacassagne Center (UNICANCER Federation) and IRCAN have published in an international journal the first synthesis article on individual genetic risk factors predisposing to developing a Coronavirus infection.
Given the high sensitivity of cancer patients to Covid-19, the Antoine Lacassagne Center and its research teams, since the beginning of the health crisis, have conducted a synthesis work on determining individual genetic risk factors for developing this disease. The conclusions published today in the scientific journal “Trends in Genetics” are applicable to all individuals, even those not suffering from cancer.
This research shows the existence of differences in sensitivity to Covid-19 among individuals based on their genetic characteristics and two opposing enzymes: those that enable the virus to penetrate the target cell (infection) and those that keep the virus at a distance from this target (protection).
On this basis, the main known groups of individuals at risk for Covid-19 align with specific genetic profiles.
The main consequence and immediate prospect arising from this work is the possibility of an individual genetic characterization of the risk of developing Covid-19 infection based on a simple and inexpensive genetic test, such as PCR.
