COVID-19: Neanderthal protein offers protection against mutant virus strain, says study

Scientists have identified a gene that can possibly provide protection against the new, more severe strain of COVID-19 currently circulating in the United Kingdom. According to a study reported in the medical journal medRxiv, people with a protein called OAS1, which has been passed down to them by the early Neanderthals, are more likely to survive the new strain of COVID-19. The study is awaiting to be reviewed by peers before it can be published on medRxiv. 

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Who are Neanderthals?

Neanderthals are a group of extinct homo sapiens, who lived across Euroasia some 40,000 years ago. It is believed that Neandertals went extinct because of competition with modern-day humans, a great change in climate, unknown disease, or a combination of all these factors. People living in the sub-Saharan region are believed to have been carrying the gene and the protective protein OAS1. The protein was lost after present-day Europeans migrated out of Africa, but is believed to have returned through mating with Neanderthals. 

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Earlier, a study had said that people with Neanderthals DNA are at risk of developing severe Covid-19 infection. According to the study, conducted by Germany's Max Planck Institute, people carrying Neanderthal genes are at a higher risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure who become infected with COVID-19. 

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The new strain of COVID-19 was discovered in the United Kingdom earlier this month but is believed to have been present since September. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on December 2 announced a stricter Tier-4 lockdown to prevent the new variant from spreading. However, since the discovery of the new strain in the UK, several other variants have been detected in other parts of the world, including South Africa and Nigeria. 

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