Scientists and clinicians from UAE University, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), and the University of Sharjah are jointly working to further understand how the COVID-19 virus spreads in society and its impact on human health. Also, the joint team is working to develop effective strategies to enable UAE leaders to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the quality of life and the country's economy.

In this regard, the team of scientists is developing a range of projects to understand different responses of human health against the COVID-19 virus and its impact on the host. They are working on projects to understand why some humans have greater severity than others.

Significantly, researchers in the multidisciplinary team are making efforts to understand the role of the immune system in fighting the virus. At the same time, they are exploring whether the differences in human response to the virus can explain something about the emerging variations in the disease severity.

Reportedly, Dr. Habiba Alsafar, Acting Associate Dean for Student Affairs at College of Medicine and Health Sciences; Associate Professor at Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology; and Director of Khalifa University Centre for Biotechnology, is a crucial part of the joint research team.

Speaking over the development, Dr. Alsafar explained that on average, it takes five to six days for COVID-19 symptoms to show and people with mild symptoms can take care of themselves at home.

However, for patients with underlying health conditions, he noted that the disease can prove to be fatal.

"Our team is trying to establish how other genes and proteins that explain the predisposition of certain patients go completely asymptomatic and those that respond poorly to the infection," he added.

Taking this into account, the team of researchers is observing the RNA from the host patients while identifying potential biomarkers in order to understand why patients respond differently to the infection. Researchers are attempting to understand why some patients become infected without any symptoms, and others develop mild or moderate symptoms.

Several host factors play a role in causing the disease, as it does in the context of viruses.

For instance, the ACE2 receptor of the host cells binds to the S-protein on the virus particle surface. It then interacts and contributes to the pathophysiology of the disease. Therefore, there is a need for studying the genomes of both the host and the virus. Scientists and researchers across the world are trying to understand the interplay between the host and the virus. This is can significantly help in effective disease management, advanced vaccine development, and identification of targets for therapeutic interventions.

The information gained from the viral genome can contribute to determining the spread of the virus from one place to another and its origin. It can also provide necessary information about the developing strains circulating around the surroundings, which can help in efforts to control and combat the spread of the virus.

WAM