Genetic ancestry effects on the response to viral infection are pervasive but cell type specific

Ancestry shapes genetic immune responses Selection for genes affecting the immune system can vary among populations because of selection for local environments. In humans, ancestry has been associated with different responses to infection. Randolph et al . examined the molecular determinants of these observations using single-cell RNA sequencing of immune cells from individuals of European and African descent who were infected with influenza in vitro. The experiments showed that infection-induced gene signatures diverged in a cell-type-specific manner that was correlated with ancestry, and that these observed ancestry-related differences were caused by changes in gene regulation and processes involved in transcription and translation. —LMZ