Host Genetics & Immune Response Profiling

Coronavirus

Investigating Host Genetics

Uncovering the underlying genetic factors associated with host susceptibility and profiling individual immune system responses may help unravel the complexities of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and reveal future therapeutic targets. It is crucial to identify genetic variants linked to disease severity, and study immune response differences such as inflammatory cytokine, T cell, and NK cell gene expression signatures. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and microarray technologies can help researchers interrogate host genetic variation and characterize the molecular mechanisms that drive immune responses.

The key benefits of using Illumina NGS and array technologies to study host risk and immune response include:

  • Scalability and flexibility to screen diverse sample sets, with high-throughput and low-throughput options
  • Solutions that allow a multiomic approach to analyze host genetic variation and profile immune transcript and epigenetic signatures
  • Data analysis and interpretation solutions to match your project scale

Methods for Host Genetics & Immune Response Profiling Studies

Application Goal Recommended Methods
Host genetics research
  • Define host genetic risk factors
  • Identify genetic variants linked to protection from a disease such as severe COVID-19
Host immune response profiling
  • Understand biology/mechanism of immune response
  • Identify immunological biomarkers linked to disease progression
  • Profile expression of immune response-related genes such as cytokines
  • Study epigenetic differences in immune-related genes  
Microbiome & host response
  • Study effects of microbiome differences between individuals with varying disease severity
SARS-CoV-2 Identification
The COVIDSeq Assay (96 samples) is a low- to mid-throughput NGS assay designed to help clinical research labs identify both known and novel strains of SARS-CoV-2.
Webinar: COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative

Mark Daly, PhD discusses a global effort to identify host genetics contributions to COVID-19 disease susceptibility and severity.

View Webinar

Using Genomics to Study COVID-19 Host Genetic Variability

Dr. Lee Murphy’s core lab at the University of Edinburgh applies a genomic approach to study host genetic variability in disease progression and outcome in SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized patients. The team and collaborators perform genotyping and WGS on DNA samples, as well as mRNA sequencing on the NextSeq 2000 System.

View Video
How Methylome Relates to Clinical Outcome
Methylation arrays add another dimension to the study of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Related Publications

DNA methylation changes associated with COVID-19
Read Case Study
Immunology of COVID-19: Current State of the Science
Read Review
Presence of Genetic Variants Among Young Men with Severe COVID-19
Read Paper
COVID-19 severity correlates with airway epithelium–immune cell interactions identified by single-cell analysis
Read Paper
Get help finding the right solutions for your host genetics and immune response studies.

Related Solutions

Microbiome Analysis

The study of microbial communities found in and on the human body allows researchers to understand the role of microbes in health and disease.

Shotgun Metagenomics

A DNA sequencing method that enables comprehensive sampling of all genes in all organisms in a given complex microbial sample.

Complex Disease Research

Complex diseases result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Array and sequencing technologies can help reveal the underpinnings of these diseases.

Cell & Molecular Biology

Expand cell and molecular biology research beyond conventional methods with next-generation sequencing.

Single-Cell RNA-Seq

With single-cell RNA-Seq, researchers can study cellular differences that are often masked by bulk sampling.