Almost two years after the start of the pandemicmuch has changed in the world. Scientific development managed in record time to create vaccines against the respiratory virus that took the lives of millions of people. And while immunization did not prevent a new wave of infections, caused by variant Omicron, if death records were kept low. Although in recent weeks the scientific community has cast its eyes on “los Terminators Covid”.
This is colloquially called those people who are “immune” to the contagion of Covid-19, even when living with infected. The term was chosen in clear allusion to the well-known 1984 film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; in which he fights in a war between humanity and indestructible machines.
This finding caused scientists from a dozen countries to begin a study in June 2020, led by the Rockefeller University of New York (USA), to analyze the genetic characteristics of these individuals that prevent them from becoming infected, within the framework of the international consortium Covihge (Covid Human Genetic Effort).
“From the genetic point of view, we are interested in understanding why there are certain individuals who are young without problems of other diseases and who, despite this, end up in the ICU. And, on the other hand, there are people who are resistant, who have shared space with their partner without getting infected“he explained Aurora Pujol, head of the research group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, which is investigating the genetic code of the so-called “Terminators”.
Why don’t these people get coronavirus?
According to the first hypothesis, the how the virus enters the cells of these people “Either they do not express themselves or they express themselves in a different way” compared to the rest of the population that does manage to be infected.
“Knowing these genetic determinants could help explain not only why some covid-19 patients develop severe disease, but also propose possible lines of action against the virus”explained the doctor Jesus Troy, from the Infanta Sofía Hospital, in Spain.
With more precise and effective data, the researchers hope to advance the development of treatments against the virus, since “find those changes in the DNA in genes that facilitate the entry of the virus into the cells or the first phases of viral multiplication It will allow the design of specific pharmacological or other treatments that manage to close the door of our cells to the viral invader”, Pujol assured.
This study, published in the scientific journal Nature in October, hopes to have new findings within six to eight months.
However, the search will not be easy, since, if genetic resistance to covid existed, there could only be “a handful” of people with this trait, indicated Isabelle Meyts, pediatric and medical immunologist at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), who is also part of the project.
According to the article, they have already recruited 500 potential candidates and at least 600 others got in touch to apply as potential candidates. The goal is to reach at least a thousand people.
Although the number of possible candidates is significant, the task remains complicated, as it will be difficult to prove that candidates were highly exposed to the virus.
“I will continue to go out on the street protected with an FFP2 mask, I will keep it in closed spaces, rI will respect the distances and the hygiene measures as before”, he maintained in dialogue with ABC Anna Grandes, one of the people who is hypothetically immune to the virus.
“I’m not afraid of getting infected, but I’m not a kamikaze. I don’t know if I can transmit it, but as far as I know I don’t catch it easily. That’s all I know at the moment.”, he added in his testimony with the Spanish newspaper.
“In this research on super-resistant we want to see if the cellular receptors of the virus are expressed in the same way in these people as in the rest of the population. We will sequence the DNA of the participants and focus on the ACE2 protein, which is used by SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells, and also in other important pieces in the entry and multiplication of the virus in the cells, but with an open mind to find elements unknown to date,” added Pujol.