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UMCG is researching the defense against Covid-19

One of the recurring questions in the Lifelines Corona study is whether a participant has tested positive. In addition, a series of in-depth questions will follow, which have been repeated (bi) weekly since March. In addition to the information from these questionnaires, the team, consisting of Debbie van Baarle and Anke Huckriede (department of Medical Microbiology) and Lude Franke (department of Genetics), will now also use blood samples to gain insight into the built-up resistance against the virus in order to do better. predict who is at risk for severe Covid-19. This can be used to study which people make antibodies, to what extent this happens and for how long the antibodies remain present. It can also be investigated whether this affects their health.

Role of heredity

This Northern corona study previously showed that heredity plays a role in the extent to which someone becomes ill from the virus. Franke: “The picture that now emerges suggests that the immune system in people who are seriously ill due to corona is tuned differently. That is partly hereditary. With the unique data and blood samples from Lifelines, a contribution can be made to insights into these systems.

The research team is investigating the possibilities of studying the immune system in a larger group of Lifelines participants. Franke: “A great deal is known about each Lifelines participant about their health, lifestyle, family relationships and more. And that of the past 15 years. This collection of health data is of great value for scientific research into corona. ”

Long-term corona research

The Lifelines Corona study is a joint initiative of the UMCG, the University of Groningen, the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health and Lifelines. It is made possible in part by the University of the North, supported by the Ubbo Emmius Fund and NDC Media. People can contribute financially to this and more important corona research through the ‘Crowdfunding against Corona’ campaign.

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