Regeneron Scientists Show COVID-19 and Flu for the Most Part Distinct, Sharing Little in the Form of Common Genetic Risk Factors

A large team of scientists led by New York State-based biotech manufacturer Regeneron and collaborators sought to better understand if SARS-CoV-2 and influenza have common underlying causes of risks. While host genetic risk factors have been heavily studied for COVID-19 due to the pandemic and all of the government money allocated for research during that time, the same cannot be said for influenza. Importantly, a large, published genome-wide association of studies for genetic risk conditions for both include >2 million individuals and about 1,000 individuals, respectively.  An important study, the team demonstrates that the genetic architectures of COVID-19 and influenza for the most part differ--with few shared common genetic risk factors. The Regeneron-led team reports a first: identifying and replicating  genome-wide-significant loci for influenza, validating an inhibition of ST6GAL1 inhibits viral infectivity in vitro.

The study team tapped into and utilized myriad resources and funding listed below.  Published in Nature Genetics, what are the shared genetic risk factors possibly involved with both COVID-19 and the flu? Could there be common targets to prevent or treat both conditions—we remind that both COVID-19 and flu remain deadly especially for elderly vulnerable people.