COVID-19 triggers epigenetic alterations that drive lung damage and fatalities

The COVID-19 disease, due to infection with the SARS-CoV2 virus, became an international pandemic in 2020. To date, more than 770 million people have suffered from the disease and nearly 7 million of them have lost their life. The most common cause of death in the studied group is lung involvement with consequent respiratory failure. However, the targets of the virus in the lung and the mechanisms by which lung tissue can cease to be functional in the disease are largely unknown.

Today, in an article published in the journal CHEST, the official journal of thoracic doctors in…