2023-05-10 16:15:29
abc podcast
dark matter
A single gene, which leads to having a longer nose and adapted to cold, comes directly from that other human species
A long, long time ago, there was more than one human species on Earth. And though in the end they all disappeared and only ours remained, our genes reveal ancient interbreeding and interspecies alliances throughout a troubled history and whose results are… us. As far as we know, our DNA contains remains of four of these crosses, four species of which we only know 3 for now. Despite having some of its DNA from the fourth, no fossil remains have yet been found that allow us to identify it.
But today we are going to talk about Neanderthals, or to be more precise, our Neanderthal heritage. For fifteen years we have known that all Eurasians have between 1% and 4% Neanderthal DNA, which implies that that ‘other’ human species interbred with ours and left its genetic imprint deeply marked on all of us. From them, for example, we have inherited genes that influence the quality and type of sleep, mood, a tendency to isolate, light skin and hair tones, and even sensitivity to infections by viruses such as What causes Covid 19?
And now, an international team of researchers led by experts from University College London has just discovered a new trait to put on the list: modern humans inherit genetic material from Neanderthals that directly affects… the shape of our nose.
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#Neanderthals.. #noses