Researchers identify gene that gives early warning of severe COVID-19

“We were able to really understand the cellular architecture of the virus, what it’s binding to in the lungs, and then identify the genes that are present in COVID-infected tissue,” Dr Kulasinghe said.

“We found a small handful of genes which were really high in COVID-19 patients, and one of them was an interferon response gene called IFI27.”

An interferon response gene is activated by the body’s immune system to fight off viruses, and it has already been theorised that they are involved in the most severe cases of COVID-19.

Dr Kulasinghe said their research shows IFI27 is a “triage biomarker” for disease severity.

“What that means is that when a patient comes to clinic, whatever symptoms they’re exhibiting, if we…