Bloomberg Scientists have identified 22 genes that increase the risk of conditions like lupus, stroke, and rheumatoid arthritis in patients who’ve caught the virus behind mono, an illness known as the “kissing disease.”
The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, tried to unravel why some people who contract the Epstein-Barr virus go on to experience other medical conditions later in life. The hope is that by understanding who is most at risk, scientists might be able to better target treatments and turbo-charge research into vaccines for prevention.