Grigorescu F, Lautier C
Direction of Clinical Research and Innovation (DCRI), Montpellier Cancer Institute, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Institut Convergences Migrations, Collège de France, Paris, France.
Acta Endocrinol (Buchar). 2020 Jul-Sep;16(3):346-352. doi: 10.4183/aeb.2020.346.
Human populations are faced to the COVID-19 pandemic due to the emerging SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus originating from Wuhan (China) and with dramatic Public Health consequences. Despite periods of panic, the scientific community demonstrated an incredible innovation potential and energy ending up in one year with new vaccines to be used in population. Researchers are interrogating on how individual genetic differences contribute to the diversity of clinical manifestations or ethnic and geographic disparities of COVID-19. While efforts were spent to understand mechanistically the infectious potential of the virus, recent progresses in molecular genetics and bioinformatics allowed the characterization of viral sequence and construction of phylogeographical maps of viral dispersion worldwide. These data will help understanding epidemiological disparities among continents and ethnic populations. Much effort was also spent in analyzing host genetics by studying individual genes involved in innate and immune responses or explaining pathogenesis of comorbidities that complicate the fate of elderly patients. Several international consortia launched already (GWAS) and whole genome sequencing strategies to identify genetic markers with immediate application in patients at risk of respiratory failure. These new genetic data are important not only for understanding susceptibility factors for COVID-19 but they also contain an important message of hope for mankind warranting our survival and health.
由于源自中国武汉的新型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2），人类正面临着新冠疫情，这带来了严重的公共卫生后果。尽管有恐慌时期，但科学界展现出了惊人的创新潜力和能量，在一年内研发出了可用于人群的新疫苗。研究人员正在探究个体基因差异如何导致新冠临床表现的多样性，以及新冠在不同种族和地理区域的差异。在努力从机制上理解病毒的感染潜力时，分子遗传学和生物信息学的最新进展使得病毒序列得以表征，并构建了全球病毒传播的系统发育地理图谱。这些数据将有助于理解各大洲和不同种族人群之间的流行病学差异。通过研究参与先天免疫反应的个体基因，或解释使老年患者病情复杂化的合并症的发病机制，人们也在花大力气分析宿主遗传学。几个国际联盟已经启动了全基因组关联研究（GWAS）和全基因组测序策略，以识别对有呼吸衰竭风险的患者有直接应用价值的基因标记。这些新的基因数据不仅对于理解新冠的易感因素很重要，它们还包含了一个对人类充满希望的重要信息，确保我们的生存和健康。
