Like Venom Coursing Through The Body: Researchers Identify Mechanism Driving COVID-19 Mortality

Collaborating scientists have identified what may be the key molecular mechanism responsible for COVID-19 mortality – an enzyme related to neurotoxins found in rattlesnake venom. Researchers from the University of Arizona, in collaboration with Stony Brook University and Wake Forest School of Medicine, analyzed blood samples from two COVID-19 patient cohorts and found that circulation of a certain enzyme may be the most important factor in predicting which patients with severe COVID-19 eventually succumb to the virus.