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

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Infectious Disease Research
• Biomedical Literature Analysis

Background:

• Human gene research is historically concentrated on a small subset of genes, often predating the Human Genome Project.
• This bias means frequently studied genes may not be disproportionately important to human physiology or disease compared to others.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred extensive research, but the pattern of gene investigation may mirror existing biases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the pattern of human gene investigation within the SARS-CoV-2 research literature.
• To determine if the COVID-19 research field exhibits a similar bias towards well-studied genes as general human gene research.
• To identify host genes implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection that have been neglected in subsequent research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 10,395 research publications related to SARS-CoV-2 mentioning at least one human gene.
• Literature review up to mid-October 2020.
• Cross-referencing publication data with findings from four genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Main Results:

• The body of COVID-19 research, up to October 2020, shows a similar bias towards investigating a limited set of human genes.
• A significant number of host genes previously implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection by genome-wide studies remain under-researched within the broader literature.
• The extent of this research neglect is quantifiable and potentially significant.

Conclusions:

• The research landscape for SARS-CoV-2 gene interactions mirrors the historical bias seen in broader human gene studies.
• There is a substantial gap in understanding the role of numerous host genes in COVID-19 pathogenesis due to under-investigation.
• Further research is needed to explore these neglected genes to fully comprehend SARS-CoV-2 infection and its consequences.