Genetics and covid deaths

Neanderthal gene probably caused up to a million Covid deaths

LZTFL 1 gene

The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals

Clinical manifestations, asymptomatic to rapid progression to respiratory failure

Co-morbidities do not fully explain variability

Region (gene cluster) on chromosome 3

Only region that is significantly associated with severity

Odds ratio for requiring hospitalization of 1.6

Death, 2.0

Genome-wide association study

N = 3,199 hospitalized with COVID-19

Population controls, 897,488

The major genetic risk factor for severe symptoms

Risk is conferred by genomic segment, 50 kilobases

Inherited from Neanderthals

Haplotype

Group of alleles (one version of a gene) in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent.

Sequence strongly associated with each other in the population

Haplotype carried by

50% of people in south Asia, at least one copy

16% of people in Europe

9% of admixed American

Bangladesh

63% heterozygous

13% homozygous

Bangladeshi origins, living in UK

Hazard ratio of death, 2.0

Almost absent in east Asia

Neanderthals or Denisovans?

Present in a homozygous form in the genome of Vindija Neanderthal,

50,000-year-old Neanderthal from Croatia

Founder of the clade

Neanderthals and modern humans split 550,000 years ago

Dr James Davies University of Oxford

We used the technique and it identified a virtually understudied gene called LZTFL1,

and at the time that this had not been linked to infection at all.

It’s a single letter difference out of three billion.

This tiny section of DNA doubles your risk of dying from Covid.

It's position 45,818,159 on chromosome three,

and it's a single change.

If you've got a G at that site, it's low risk.

And if you have an A at that site it is high risk
adenine (A)

cytosine (C)

guanine (G)

thymine (T)

Gene changes cell reaction to binding of SARS-CoV-2 virus onto the ACE2 receptor

Conformational changes

In most people, this leads to the cell then changing shape

Conformational changes reduces further binding

High risk variant, less or delayed conformational change

Deaths globally, is in the hundreds of thousands to a million

Dr Davies and Dr Simon Underdown

The Neanderthal gene first infiltrated humans 60,000 years ago

One event, one child

Neanderthal Introgression,

Gene jumped into the Homo sapien lineage

The reason that we know that is that it's inherited as this block with 28 single letter changes,

and you can track that all the way back and it has to be a single event.

It's just so unlikely that you get all 28 changes at the same time and in the same block

[Chemicznaja]

This is how my Friday evening looks like: curiously listening to an intelligent person sharing his knowledge with the world. I salute to you, sir.

[FairyPodcaster]

I really love how you start off each talk with the date and a summary and brief intro. Then politely say ‘so if you want to watch that’s what todays talk will be about’ ☺️

[kayprice]

I caught a virus in Madrid end of October 2019. I was really ill for 3/4 weeks and when the pandemic hit I realised I had had all the covid symptoms. The interesting thing about this is that I shared a restaurant with approximately 50 Chinese tourists (which could be verified) 4 days before becoming ill. I have believed all along that I had Covid. Fits with your question about whether the virus was circulating in China much earlier than Nov 19

[domenicsaviniethicquest]

What a brilliant mind, lucid speaker and wonderful soul. Had my college or high school biology teacher been like Dr. Campbell i may have pursued the health sciences. Thank you for being such a gift to us all.

[juvenalsdad]

There were some who, during the pandemic, were ascribing the disproportionate death rate among people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK to 'health inequities'. Perhaps this might be a lesson in the value of exploring all the multi variants of a problem, rather than just reaching for the easy answer.

[anatomicallymodernhuman]

This is the first thing I’ve come across that explains why a friend of mine spent weeks in hospital with an early variant and nearly died, despite having previously been a healthy young man in his late 20s with no known comorbidities.

[susankerr]

As the former owner of a couple Denisovan molars (Huge roots--and three of them on each tooth!), I suspect that we all carry more interesting genes than we care to think about. There is some evidence that interbreeding among humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans was not a one-and-done event but rather an ongoing situation as groups encountered one another again and again. Today's video is fascinating. Thanks so much.

[craignedoff]

This man is an international treasure, one the most truthful and informative channels anywhere.

[Schnazola]

Paleoanthropology never ceases to interest me. And making the genetic connection between Homo neanderthalensis and Covid morbidity is super fascinating. Thanks for explaining this, Dr. C.

[nycmermaid]

What an extraordinary presentation!
Your enthusiasm for the information is palpable! Always so very grateful for your expertise.
I have been following you since the very beginning of the covid report’s from China. You have been and are THE finest voice of reason and scientific data throughout this unfortunately politicized pandemic. Here in the USA, politics has had a particularly tragic impact on the sense and health of too many.
I am so profoundly grateful for you and your clear, science based reports. Thank you.

[mariaalards]

Dear Doctor Campbell, from day one you have kept us informed in a simple but clear way, which in itself has stopped worrying.When you spoke about vitamin D3 and K2 it gave us a better protection and for me it helped with chronic rheumatoid arthritis in high enough doses.So thank you Doctor and much love from France 🇫🇷💕

[ms.information]

This was such an interesting topic! It also highlights why government bureaucrats trying to outsmart an infectious virus was such a disaster. I wish the massive hubris of our medical bureaucrats may be reduced after this; there are SO many variables that the computer modeling is woefully inadequate to predict results.

[laurenbrillante]

I find that U.S. biolabs studying airborne diseases how to wage biowarfare based on genetics and how they can deliver these selective diseases by drone extremely disturbing(this is what was discovered in U.S. funded biolabs in Ukraine). I am extremely distrustful of the Oligarchs ruling our world and the way they are 'playing with fire' with our future.

[KayCeeTX]

As an avid reader of the meticulously researched Jean. M Auel books (Clan of the Cave-bear series), I found this topic absolutely fascinating!!! Thank you for sharing it with us! ❤️

[johnmcclain]

Thank you doctor, it's been fifty years since I studied genetics formally, but I still enjoy the information very much. This was a wonderful bit of odd data at a rather odd moment in time, fascinating indeed.

[douginorlando]

This was known very early on (when the virus hit northern Italy very hard). But alas, the fact this key genetic co morbidity existed was severely censored. 18% of native Europeans have this and 3% inherited it from both parents. One copy increases severity same as adding 10 years of age. 2 copies increased risk same as 20 years of age. This would have made a huge difference in treatment, testing vaccines, targeting those needing to take extra precautions.

[imbadger]

Dr. John, thank you SO much for this beautiful and fascinating look into the amazing story of our collective evolutionary history! Thank you sharing your brilliant intellectual curiosity with all of us. Your marvelous gift for sifting quickly through scientific data chaff to find the essential kernels of relevant information, and to then present them succinctly to non-scientists like me is breathtaking!

[altheacrawford]

Thank you so much (!!!) for ALL of your continued excellent work on this channel Dr. Campbell. You have been able to consistently break down--for the average person--often incredibly complex medical/scientific information, within an everchanging context of reported "Science, " guidelines, & mandates. I'm sure it is must be quite time consuming for you (reading most current journals, making notes, processing of info. read, et al). Your regular 'breakdowns, ' are an incredibly important public service, that is so desperately needed! Thanx again for ALL of your continued work.
Peace, x & gratitude to you & All. :)

[lawrencestovall]

Thanks again Dr for an interesting topic. The gene topic was mentioned early on but, was on the tail end. Sometime you could read about a complete family dying when one got infected. This information helps us understand what we are facing in the future about one treatment fit all approach. I appreciate that you bring up topics that's normally not discussed outside the scientific community. Neanderthal did in fact pass on genes that were protective as well as destructive.

[billroy]

Dr. John Campbell - Can I just say 'Thank You'. The service you provide to both professionals in the medical world and non-medical world (which I am part of) is outstanding.