Re:New research shows social distancing a must to beat Covid-19
by btilly on Thursday March 19, 2020 @12:19PM
(#22628935)
This is absolutely correct.
Quick recombination so that a beneficial gene can spread without losing genetic diversity of the population is is one of the benefits of sexual reproduction. And immune resistance to new threats is one of the top reasons why we need this capability.
In fact we broadcast signatures of our immune systems in pheromones and women are attracted to the smell of men whose immune systems are different from their own. This improves the probability that the children will be resistant to a wider range of possible diseases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odour_and_sexual_attracti... is one of many places that you can start learning more about this topic.
Conversely, there are probably genotypes running around today that are completely asymptomatic to Covid. You could have whole families shedding virus wherever they go and never even know what they’ve done.
And one of the ways we learn about immunology is to study people who are immune or asymptomatic, so it’s not just about quarantining people that we need to identify infected individuals.