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Episode details

World Service,4 mins

The hunt for people resistant to Covid-19

Health Check

Available for over a year

Some people have a genetic susceptibility to certain diseases and they become more ill than others if they get infected. But the opposite can also exist. A group of scientists from 10 countries is hoping to find individuals who are genetically resistant to SARS-CoV-2, in case they hold the key to specific drugs that would help protect other people from Covid. They announced their quest in the journal Nature and have since been inundated with people getting in touch. Immunologist Evangelos Andreakos is part of the team at the Biomedical Research Foundation in Athens. He stresses that even if someone thinks they are one of the rare people who might be resistant to coronavirus, it’s still important to get vaccinated against the disease. (Image: Red man looking at sky from the crowd, surreal painting illustration, Credit: Getty Images.)

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