Ann GibbonsScience’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.If you become infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, you might wish there was a fast way to check your Neanderthal ancestry.
A small but significant number of people have an ancient gene variant from the extinct hominin that may double or even quadruple their risk of serious complications from COVID-19.The finding, posted last week as a preprint on Biorxiv, shines a light on an enzyme called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4).
Scientists already know that the protein allows another coronavirus, which causes Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), to bind to and enter human cells.