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There are 13 genetic markers associated with Covid-19 infection and severity.

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The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that 13 regions in the human genome are “strongly associated” with SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe development of COVID-19.

Smoking and high body mass index (BMI) were also among the causal factors identified by the researchers.

The results announced are based on one of the largest genome association studies ever conducted, involving nearly 50,000 COVID-19 patients and 2 million SARS-CoV-2-free control patients.

According to the study, of the 13 regions identified in the human genome, two had a higher frequency in patients from East and South Asia compared to patients from Europe.

The statement said that one of the two identified sites in the human genome, close to the FOXP4 gene, is associated with lung cancer, and the FOXP4 variant, associated with severe covid-19 disease, “increases gene expression.”

“Gene inhibition could be a potential therapeutic strategy,” the document says.

Other sites associated with severe covid-19 disease included the DPP9 gene, also associated with lung cancer and lung fibrosis, and the TYK2 gene, which is implicated in several autoimmune diseases.

The initiative, the result of a global effort of thousands of scientists and entitled COVID-19 Host Genomics Initiative, was initiated in March 2020 by Andrea Ganna, researcher at the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki, and Mark Dali, FIM Director and Broad Institute Fellow Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard.

Since then, the initiative has become one of the largest collaborative projects in the field of human genetics, currently involving more than 3,300 authors and 61 studies from 25 countries.

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Quoted in the statement, Mark Dali says that despite progress in the investigation, “there is still a long way to go.”

“We will probably see covid-19 as a serious health problem for a long time to come. Any therapy that comes out this year, for example by reusing an existing drug based on clear genetic knowledge, will have a big impact. “stress.

The researcher adds that the results show that “there is a lot of untapped potential in the use of genetics to understand and potentially develop treatments for infectious diseases.”

Andrea Ganna, also cited in the article, says this research and the steps taken to find reliable genetic signals “show how much better science is, how much faster it progresses,” and when there is collaboration between experts.

Ben Neal, co-director of the Medical Genetics Program at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and co-author of the study, also cited in the statement, says that while vaccines protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection, “there is still significant room for improved treatment.” Covid -nineteen.

According to the researcher, improved treatment approaches for COVID-19 could help “translate the pandemic into a more localized endemic disease that is present at low but constant levels in the population,” like the flu.

“The better we can treat covid-19, the better the medical community will be to control the disease,” says Ben Neal, adding that if there were mechanisms to treat the infection and remove patients from hospitals, “it would radically change the situation. health response. the public “.

Researchers who hope the results “point the way to beneficial therapeutic goals” will now examine what makes “truckers” different. [doentes que desenvolvem uma infeção prolongada] remaining patients, as well as to identify areas in the human genome associated with infections and serious diseases.

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According to the latest estimate by Agence France-Presse, the covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 4,004,996 deaths worldwide as a result of more than 185 million new coronavirus infections.

The respiratory illness is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China, and currently variants identified in countries such as the UK, India or South Africa.

Read also: MINUTE: Meetings at Infarmed upon return; EMA insists on two doses

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Vladimir Putin has delayed the invasion of Ukraine at least three times.

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Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.

According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .

However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.

However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.

The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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Life sentence for former Swedish official for spying for Russia

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A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.

According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.

Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”

Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.

The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.

Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.

According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.

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The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.

According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.

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Ukraine admitted that Russia may announce a general mobilization

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“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.

Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”

In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of ​​the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.

“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of ​​destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .

As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.

“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).

See also  Angela Merkel said goodbye to power with punk music

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.

The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.

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