A New York university has launched a worldwide study to try to decipher the genetic secrets of those who have never been infected.
They are already 700. This number corresponds to that of people having answered the call of the Rockefeller University of New York, which launched an international study aiming at determining if there is a resistance genetic au Covid.
In addition, 5,000 people presented themselves as never having had Covid and are being tested, the essential Swiss daily tells us. The morning.
3 out of 4 Americans infected
And it’s not so easy to find candidates, since the Washington Post informs us that according to a model developed by the University of Washington, 76% of the citizens of UNITED STATES would have been affected. However, one may have been in contact with the virushaving welcomed the infection without having developed any symptoms.
To be sure, the presence of antibodies in the blood must be determined. However, not all tests are able to recognize whether these antibodies are present following contamination or vaccination.
In search of a common denominator
It is therefore necessary to unearth a common point between these participants. Because a non-infection can be the result of barrier gestures, vaccination, or even simply luck.
And can this luck come from the genetic heritage. Jennifer Nuzzo, epidemiologist at Brown University School of Public Health, explains: “Studying the genes and other biological traits of people who never get the coronavirus could shed light on how the virus grows or how it infects the human body and makes people sick”.
Of the receivers in question
According to the specialist, some people may have fewer receptors in the nose, throat and lungs, making it more difficult for the virus to bind. In other words, it is less easy for him to “hold on”. A person could also have been previously exposed to an equivalent infectious agent or just be born with an immune system better able to fight or avoid this type of respiratory virus.
So how? One idea would be to focus on people who have been particularly exposed and regularly tested, and we are thinking of medical personnel or high-level athletes who had to comply very often in order to be able to continue their professional activities. So, in the event that they have always tested negative in an environment where many have been contaminated, then a reason must exist, except for pure luck.
If researchers can determine the causes, it will be easier to develop a targeted treatment to fight the virus.