New Research Suggests Neanderthal DNA May Be Responsible for Early Riser Tendencies
A new study published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution suggests that genetic material from Neanderthal ancestors may have contributed to the propensity of some people today to be “early risers.” The research, conducted by a team of scientists, reveals that individuals with Neanderthal ancestry show a consistent trend towards being morning people, a trait that may have been evolutionarily beneficial for our ancestors living in higher latitudes in Europe.
The study builds on previous research that indicates modern humans and archaic hominins, such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans, evolved under different environmental conditions. When humans came to Eurasia, they interbred with the archaic hominins, which created the potential for humans to gain genetic variants already adapted to the new environments. This new research suggests that some of these genetic variants from Neanderthals may have influenced the circadian rhythm of modern humans, resulting in a bias towards being morning people.
Lead author of the study, John A. Capra, explains, “By combining ancient DNA, large-scale genetic studies in modern humans, and artificial intelligence, we discovered substantial genetic differences in the circadian systems of Neanderthals and modern humans. Then by analyzing the bits of Neanderthal DNA that remain in modern human genomes we discovered a striking trend: many of them have effects on the control of circadian genes in modern humans and these effects are predominantly in a consistent direction of increasing propensity to be a morning person.”
The findings shed new light on the role of Neanderthal DNA in shaping human circadian traits and suggest the potential impact of archaic hominin ancestry on modern human biology and behavior. The research marks an important contribution to our understanding of how genetic material from our ancient ancestors continues to influence human traits and characteristics.
The study, titled “Archaic Introgression Shaped Human Circadian Traits,” was authored by Keila Velazquez-Arcelay et al and is available in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. The researchers plan to further explore the effects of the Neanderthal variants on the circadian clock in model systems and apply similar analyses to other potentially adaptive traits in humans.
This research opens the door to a deeper understanding of how our genetic history has shaped the traits that define us as human beings, providing valuable insights into the evolutionary adaptations of our species.