Eight universities and research institutes, including Keio University, launched a joint research project on Thursday to investigate what makes a person more susceptible to experiencing severe symptoms of the coronavirus and other genetic factors. Researchers will look for genes that are associated with severe illness in Japanese, noting that there have been fewer deaths per capita in Japan than in other western countries.
In Asian countries such as Japan, the mortality rate from the new coronavirus is lower than in the West. In addition to more people wearing masks and differences in health care systems, some think the difference could be related to the genes of people in the region or of certain ethnic groups.
The research group will collect blood samples from 600 people that were infected with the virus from about 40 hospitals in Japan and analyze the genetic information. They will examine whether there are genetic differences between those who are mildly ill or asymptomatic and those who are severely ill or have died. They hope to have the data compiled by around September.
The group will also participate in an international joint research project regarding genetic factors that is also being conducted at research institutions overseas to compare data.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
