By Kevin E. Noonan — Svante Pääbo created the science of detecting Neanderthal DNA in archeological samples (and living humans) almost single-handedly (see Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes). So it will come as little surprise to many that he published a paper in September describing his discovery of a gene derived from our Neanderthal ancestors (and inherited by modern humans) that encodes a risk factor for infection with the etiological agent for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. The paper, entitled “The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals” and published in Nature, builds on genetic association studies…
