Human evolution; influence of Neanderthal genes (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, June 10, 2023, 21:31 (322 days ago) @ David Turell

In immunity and calorie burn:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195656.htm

"Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits -- until now.

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"the researchers reported that some Neanderthal genes are responsible for certain traits in modern humans, including several with a significant influence on the immune system. Overall, however, the study shows that modern human genes are winning out over successive generations.

"'Interestingly, we found that several of the identified genes involved in modern human immune, metabolic and developmental systems might have influenced human evolution after the ancestors' migration out of Africa," said study co-lead author April (Xinzhu) Wei, an assistant professor of computational biology

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"Using a vast dataset from the UK Biobank consisting of genetic and trait information of nearly 300,000 Brits of non-African ancestry, the researchers analyzed more than 235,000 genetic variants likely to have originated from Neanderthals. They found that 4,303 of those differences in DNA are playing a substantial role in modern humans and influencing 47 distinct genetic traits, such as how fast someone can burn calories or a person's natural immune resistance to certain diseases.

"Unlike previous studies that could not fully exclude genes from modern human variants, the new study leveraged more precise statistical methods to focus on the variants attributable to Neanderthal genes."

Comment: these results are generalizations about genetic influences. Were these trysts consensual? I doubt it. Humans and Neanderthals coexisted side by side, but there is no evidence of cooperation.