The following excerpt is from an article posted at statnews.com:
As researchers probe DNA in search of clues about why some Covid-19 patients get so much sicker than others, they’re coming to a clear realization: It’s essential that they enroll as many patients as possible with cases so severe they were hospitalized.
On Wednesday, consumer genetics giant 23andMe bowed to that reality. It plans to solicit help from hospitals to expand a massive study it launched last month so that it can recruit more people — up to 10,000 new participants — who have been hospitalized with Covid-19. The idea is to mine their data to try to identify genetic differences that may help explain why some infected patients wind up on ventilators while others don’t even get a cough.
23andMe’s study had previously only been open to its existing customers who’ve opted in to participate in the company’s research. In the study’s first five weeks, more than 400,000 of those customers — including more than 6,000 who have tested positive for Covid-19 — took an online survey with questions about their symptoms, the experiences of their family members, and whether they work in health care. That information will be linked with the genetic data that 23andMe already has on file.
