PNEUMONIA genetics may hold the key to why some people are more vulnerable to this common and sometimes deadly lung infection, according to a sweeping new European study analysing the DNA of more than 600,000 people. The research highlights immune system and lung health genes as important predictors of pneumonia risk across different life stages.
New Genetic Discoveries Behind Pneumonia Risk
Scientists from used date from FinnGen and Estonian biobank projects to carry out one of the largest genome-wide analyses of pneumonia to date, comparing DNA from over 110,000 people who had experienced pneumonia with more than half a million healthy controls. They pinpointed 12 regions in the genome linked to the illness, including four previously known sites and eight new ones.
Well-established loci such as HLA, MUC5AC,…