How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates
Neanderthal genes possibly gave modern human protection against viruses. However, a recent study revealed that that a long sequence of DNA that is inherited from our Neanderthal ancestors can be linked to severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. Substantial evidence now indicates that our gene...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jbpe.sums.ac.ir/article_47194_8a520ff8860cb22ae2a73592ed8ccc49.pdf |
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| author | S A R Mortazavi A Kaveh-Ahangar S M J Mortazavi D Firoozi M Haghani |
| author_facet | S A R Mortazavi A Kaveh-Ahangar S M J Mortazavi D Firoozi M Haghani |
| author_sort | S A R Mortazavi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neanderthal genes possibly gave modern human protection against viruses. However, a recent study revealed that that a long sequence of DNA that is inherited from our Neanderthal ancestors can be linked to severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. Substantial evidence now indicates that our genetic background may be involved in the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 and the rapid progress of COVID-19 in some infected individuals. Although both morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 strongly depends on key factors such as age and co-existing health conditions, potential classes of human genomic variants possibly affect the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its progress. Despite Iran and Mongolia seem to share the same SARS-CoV-2 mutation cluster, the COVID-19 mortality rates in these two countries are drastically different. While the population in Iran is 25.8 times higher than that of Mongolia, the number of confirmed cases is 1170 times higher. Moreover, the death rate shows a drastic difference. Since Neanderthals interbred with modern humans in Middle East between 47,000 and 65,000 years ago before going extinct 40,000 years ago, some Iranians have much more Neanderthal DNA than other people. Although neither genetic background nor environmental factors alone can determine our risk of developing severe COVID-19, our genes clearly affect both the development and progression of infectious diseases including COVID-19. Given these considerations, we believe that these great differences, at least to some extent, can be due to the proportion of Neanderthal genes among the people of these two countries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:18:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85824e4094834eb5b7e999cc563728bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2251-7200 2251-7200 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:18:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Shiraz University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-85824e4094834eb5b7e999cc563728bb2022-12-21T19:02:39ZengShiraz University of Medical SciencesJournal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering2251-72002251-72002021-02-0111110911410.31661/jbpe.v0i0.2010-121847194How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality RatesS A R Mortazavi0A Kaveh-Ahangar1S M J Mortazavi2D Firoozi3M Haghani4MD, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranMSc, Vice-Chancellery for Research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranPhD, Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranPhD Candidate, Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranPhD, Department of Radiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranNeanderthal genes possibly gave modern human protection against viruses. However, a recent study revealed that that a long sequence of DNA that is inherited from our Neanderthal ancestors can be linked to severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. Substantial evidence now indicates that our genetic background may be involved in the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 and the rapid progress of COVID-19 in some infected individuals. Although both morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 strongly depends on key factors such as age and co-existing health conditions, potential classes of human genomic variants possibly affect the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its progress. Despite Iran and Mongolia seem to share the same SARS-CoV-2 mutation cluster, the COVID-19 mortality rates in these two countries are drastically different. While the population in Iran is 25.8 times higher than that of Mongolia, the number of confirmed cases is 1170 times higher. Moreover, the death rate shows a drastic difference. Since Neanderthals interbred with modern humans in Middle East between 47,000 and 65,000 years ago before going extinct 40,000 years ago, some Iranians have much more Neanderthal DNA than other people. Although neither genetic background nor environmental factors alone can determine our risk of developing severe COVID-19, our genes clearly affect both the development and progression of infectious diseases including COVID-19. Given these considerations, we believe that these great differences, at least to some extent, can be due to the proportion of Neanderthal genes among the people of these two countries.https://jbpe.sums.ac.ir/article_47194_8a520ff8860cb22ae2a73592ed8ccc49.pdfcovid-19sars-cov-2neanderthalsgenescoronavirusviral diseases |
| spellingShingle | S A R Mortazavi A Kaveh-Ahangar S M J Mortazavi D Firoozi M Haghani How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering covid-19 sars-cov-2 neanderthals genes coronavirus viral diseases |
| title | How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates |
| title_full | How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates |
| title_fullStr | How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates |
| title_short | How Our Neanderthal Genes Affect the COVID-19 Mortality: Iran and Mongolia, Two Countries with the Same SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Cluster but Different Mortality Rates |
| title_sort | how our neanderthal genes affect the covid 19 mortality iran and mongolia two countries with the same sars cov 2 mutation cluster but different mortality rates |
| topic | covid-19 sars-cov-2 neanderthals genes coronavirus viral diseases |
| url | https://jbpe.sums.ac.ir/article_47194_8a520ff8860cb22ae2a73592ed8ccc49.pdf |
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