On Dec. 15, 2020, TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope announced that it had identified a specific genetic target that could help explain the tremendous variation in how sick those infected with COVID-19 become.

The study results, published in the journal mSphere, described a molecule made from DNA ﾗ miR1307 ﾗ as a potential dimmer switch that may influence the severity of the disease; why some infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have mild or even no symptoms, while others become seriously ill or die.