Figure 1.

Polygenic risk scores might detect high-risk individuals regarding COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. The actual susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 varies widely within the population (left panel, redder individuals are more, greener individuals are less prone for severe COVID-19 disease). Genome-wide association studies might distinguish a group of SNPs from which a clinically relevant polygenic risk score can be built (right panel). Color-coded squares represent the presence of the risk allele (red) or the alternative allele (green) in each individual. The intensity of red corresponds to the odds ratio of the risk allele compared to the alternative allele. Resultant values of the odds ratios of each SNPs are color-coded as the polygenic risk score (orange background). Personalized risk scores correlate well with actual COVID-19 risk, however additional environmental, anthropometric factors and comorbidities also modify the phenotype.