DNA linked to Covid-19 inherited from Neanderthals, which is common in Bangladeshis
The variant of the genes responsible for the coronavirus disease were passed on to humans by the Neanderthals, is very common in Bangladeshis, according to a new study.
This piece of the genome, which spans six genes on Chromosome 3, has had a puzzling journey through human history, the study found, UNB reports quoting The New York Times.
The study has been carried out by a pair of Swedish geneticists Svante Paabo and Hugo Zeberg. Germany's Max Planck Institute, Japan's Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, and Sweden's Karolinska Institute are affiliated with the project.
According to it, 63% of the people in Bangladesh carry at least one copy of the genes. Across all of South Asia, almost one-third of people have inherited the segment.
Paabo said the DNA segment may account in part for why people of Bangladeshi descent are dying at a high rate of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom.
