{"id":113417,"date":"2020-09-25T12:22:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T19:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/some-severe-covid-19-cases-linked-to-genetic-mutations-or-antibodies-that-attack-the-body"},"modified":"2020-09-26T06:29:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T13:29:05","slug":"some-severe-covid-19-cases-linked-to-genetic-mutations-or-antibodies-that-attack-the-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/some-severe-covid-19-cases-linked-to-genetic-mutations-or-antibodies-that-attack-the-body","title":{"rendered":"Some severe COVID-19 cases linked to genetic mutations or antibodies that attack the body"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/some-severe-covid-19-cases-linked-to-genetic-mutations-or-antibodies-that-attack-the-body2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Very interesting!<\/p>\n<p>~~~<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe plan was to scan patients\u2019 genomes\u2014in particular, a set of 13 genes involved in interferon immunity against influenza. In healthy people, interferon molecules act as the body\u2019s security system. They detect invading viruses and bacteria and sound the alarm, which brings other immune defenders to the scene.<\/p>\n<p>~~~<br \/> Casanova\u2019s team has previously discovered [genetic mutations](<a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/genetic+mutations\/\">https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/tags\/genetic+mutations\/<\/a>) that hinder interferon production and function. People with these mutations are more vulnerable to certain pathogens, including those that cause influenza. Finding similar mutations in people with COVID-19, the team thought, could help doctors identify patients at risk of developing severe forms of the disease. It could also point to new directions for treatment, he says.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>~~~<br \/> \u201cAs the researchers began analyzing patient samples, they started to uncover harmful mutations, in people young and old. The team found that 23 out of 659 patients studied carried errors in genes involved in producing antiviral interferons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>~~~<br \/> \u201cThat thought sparked a new idea. Maybe other patients with severe COVID-19 also lacked interferons\u2014but for a different reason. Maybe some patients\u2019 bodies were harming these molecules themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>~~~<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/some-severe-covid-19-cases-linked-to-genetic-mutations-or-antibodies-that-attack-the-body\">Continue reading \u201cSome severe COVID-19 cases linked to genetic mutations or antibodies that attack the body\u201d | &gt;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Very interesting! ~~~ \u201cThe plan was to scan patients\u2019 genomes\u2014in particular, a set of 13 genes involved in interferon immunity against influenza. In healthy people, interferon molecules act as the body\u2019s security system. They detect invading viruses and bacteria and sound the alarm, which brings other immune defenders to the scene. ~~~ Casanova\u2019s team has [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113441,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113417\/revisions\/113441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}