The Y chromosome ancestry marker R1b1b2: a surrogate of the SARS-CoV-2 population affinity

Abstract

Individual and population susceptibilities to disease remain a murky area of investigation, clouded by past bias based on ideological differences and wars. The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the largest in living memory, brought this matter to forefront as the disparity in disease burden became apparent. A timeline analysis of the pandemic revealed the presence of country clusters that display a marked preponderance of disease among populations carrying the ancestry marker R1b1b2, notably associated with both infection and mortality. This marker is a relic of past human expansions from western Asia and subsequently Europe and the rest of the world, which may have been accompanied by peculiar biological events rendering these populations vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2.