Ethnic populations are more susceptible to COVID-19
India is home to many indigenous and small populations, like the Andaman islanders, who have lived in isolation for 10000s of years. Recently, a genomic analysis of several Indian populations was carried out by Dr. Kumarasamy Thangaraj from CSIR-CCMB, Director of CDFD, Hyderabad, and Proffessor Gyaneshwer Chaubey, BHU, Varanasi. The study revealed that the populations carrying similar long (homozygous) DNA segments in their genomes are more likely to be more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2. The study is released in the journal of Genes and Immunity.
Dr. Thangaraj, who investigated the origins of the Andaman Islands population, stated that they studied high-density genomic data of more than 1600 individuals from 227 ethnic populace. They discovered a high frequency of contiguous lengths of homozygous genes amongst Jarawa & Onge (Andaman tribes), and several other populations who are isolated and follow strict endogamy, making them very vulnerable to COVID-19 infection
.When the ACE2 gene variants that make people vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection were evaluated, it was found in high frequency in the Jarawa and Onge communities.
Proffessor Chaubey, Professor of Molecular Anthropology at BHU, stated that there have been some theories about the impact of COVID-19 on isolated populations. Yet, genomic data was used for the first time to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 in small and isolated populations.
Dr. Vinay Kumar Nandicoori, Director, CCMB noted that the findings of this study indicate that the protection and care for isolated populations must be prioritized so as not to lose some of the treasure of modern human evolution.
Key members of the research were Professor VN Mishra, Professor Royana Singh, Dr. Abhishek Pathak, and Prajjval Pratap Singh from BHU; Dr. Pankaj Shrivastava, FSL MP; Pratheusa Machha, CSIR-CCMB; Dr. Rakesh Tamang, Calcutta University; Dr. Prashanth Suravajhala, Amrita University, Kerala; Professor Keshav K Singh, University of Alabama USA; and Dr. Ashutosh K Rai, Saudi Arabia.
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Keywords: Ethnic populations more susceptible to COVID-19
