COVID-19 research risks ignoring important host genes due to pre-established research patterns

Thomas Stoeger; Luís A. Nunes Amaral

doi:10.7554/eLife.61981

COVID-19 research risks ignoring important host genes due to pre-established research patterns

Thomas Stoeger, Luís A. Nunes Amaral

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is known that research into human genes is heavily skewed towards genes that have been widely studied for decades, including many genes that were being studied before the productive phase of the Human Genome Project. This means that the genes most frequently investigated by the research community tend to be only marginally more important to human physiology and disease than a random selection of genes. Based on an analysis of 10,395 research publications about SARSCoV- 2 that mention at least one human gene, we report here that the COVID-19 literature up to mid- October 2020 follows a similar pattern. This means that a large number of host genes that have been implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection by four genome-wide studies remain unstudied. While quantifying the consequences of this neglect is not possible, they could be significant.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e61981
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	12
Journal	eLife
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.61981
State	Published - Oct 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Immunology and Microbiology(all)
Neuroscience(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.7554/eLife.61981

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title = "COVID-19 research risks ignoring important host genes due to pre-established research patterns",

abstract = "It is known that research into human genes is heavily skewed towards genes that have been widely studied for decades, including many genes that were being studied before the productive phase of the Human Genome Project. This means that the genes most frequently investigated by the research community tend to be only marginally more important to human physiology and disease than a random selection of genes. Based on an analysis of 10,395 research publications about SARSCoV- 2 that mention at least one human gene, we report here that the COVID-19 literature up to mid- October 2020 follows a similar pattern. This means that a large number of host genes that have been implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection by four genome-wide studies remain unstudied. While quantifying the consequences of this neglect is not possible, they could be significant.",

author = "Thomas Stoeger and {Nunes Amaral}, {Lu{\'i}s A.}",

note = "Funding Information: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases U19AI135964 Lu{\'i}s A Nunes Amaral National Science Foundation 1956338 Lu{\'i}s A Nunes Amaral Simons Foundation DMS-1764421 Lu{\'i}s A Nunes Amaral Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA9550-19-1-0354 Lu{\'i}s A Nunes Amaral National Institute on Aging K99AG068544 Thomas Stoeger. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Stoeger and Nunes Amaral.",

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AU - Nunes Amaral, Luís A.

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COVID-19 research risks ignoring important host genes due to pre-established research patterns

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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