[ad_1]
Humans and Neanderthals have crossed at least twice in the last 100,000 years. According to a new study, Neanderthals left humans with the precious gift of viral defense. ( pixabay )
Neanderthals have obviously offered humans a precious "gift" that has allowed them to survive horrible viruses and diseases. A new study suggests that when they have crossed, the best adapted Neanderthals have transmitted to humans the viruses and DNA tools to fight them.
Mix of Neanderthals and humans
It is known to date that Neanderthals and humans have crossed at least twice over a period of 100,000 years, but fragments of Neanderthal DNA remain in some members of the modern human population . In fact, many Asians and modern Europeans carry about 2% of Neanderthal DNA.
Neanderthals mysteriously disappeared about 40,000 years ago and, when the species first crossed with humans, they were already out of Africa for thousands of years, while humans had only left Africa for a much shorter period. This means that the Neanderthals' immune system was already much more accustomed to viruses and diseases in Europe and Asia than the humans who were still much more vulnerable at the time.
According to researchers a new study published in the journal CellThese frequent extracts of Neanderthal DNA may have been very useful for human adaptation when it comes to protecting our ancestors against viruses.
Model 'Poison-Antidote & # 39;
After compiling a list of more than 4,500 modern human genes that interact with viruses, the researchers identified 152 gene fragments also present in Neanderthals. These genes are those that interact with RNA viruses such as HIV, influenza A and hepatitis C, suggesting that the genes that humans have inherited from Neanderthals have helped ancient humans fight viruses to which Neanderthals were already used to it.
In a model of "poison" gene exchange between the two species, Neanderthals transmitted viruses to humans and the right tools to fight them.
"It was much more logical for modern humans to borrow from Neanderthals the already adapted genetic defenses rather than wait for their own adaptive mutations to develop, which would have taken much longer," said David Enard, co-author of author of the study.
Neanderthal DNA in Europeans
The interesting finding of the researchers is that DNA-based adaptation of Neanderthals was visibly particularly strong in modern Europeans, suggesting that genetic exchanges between Neanderthals and modern Asians probably involved different viruses. According to the researchers, it is logical that miscegenation between humans and Neanderthals has occurred at different times and in different places, thereby involving different viruses each time.
In addition to highlighting gene exchanges between humans and Neanderthals, the researchers' study also showed how to detect old diseases and epidemics by studying the genome of a species, even if the virus or disease had already gone.
See now: 30 gadgets and tech gifts for Father's Day 2018 that Dad will think of be rads
Ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
[ad_2]
Source link
