Neanderthals' inter-breeding gave early human beings ability to fight diseases
- Country:
- India
Inter-breeding with Neanderthals gave early human beings the ability to fend off dangerous diseases similar to flu and hepatitis, says a research.
The findings, led by researchers from the Universities of Arizona and Stanford, showed that while Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago, many modern Europeans and Asians today carry about 2 per cent of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes.
Early humans inherited 152 genes from Neanderthals that helped them fight off modern-day HIV, influenza A and hepatitis C whenever they encountered them.
"It's not a stretch to imagine that when modern humans met up with Neanderthals, they infected each other with pathogens that came from their respective environments," said lead author David Enard, Assistant Professor in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.
"By inter-breeding with each other, they also passed along genetic adaptations to cope with some of those pathogens," he added.
According to studies, modern humans began moving out of Africa and into Eurasia about 70,000 years ago.
When they arrived, they met up with Neanderthals who, along with their own ancestors, had been adapting to that geographic area for hundreds of thousands of years.
The Eurasian environment shaped Neanderthals' evolution, including the development of adaptations to viruses and other pathogens that were present there but not in Africa.
In the study, published in the journal Cell, the team showed that the genetic defences that Neanderthals passed to humans were against RNA viruses, which encode their genes with RNA, a molecule that is chemically similar to DNA.
The team examined a list of more than 4,500 genes in modern humans that are known to interact in some way with viruses.
Enard then checked his list against a database of sequenced Neanderthal DNA and identified 152 fragments of those genes from modern humans that were also present in Neanderthals.
In addition, the findings also demonstrate that it is possible to comb through a species' genome and find evidence of ancient diseases that once afflicted it, even when the viruses responsible for those diseases are long gone.
This technique would work especially well for RNA viruses, whose RNA-based genomes are frailer than their DNA counterparts, Enard noted.
(With inputs from agencies.)
ALSO READ
"A vision document for next 25 years: Union Minister L Murugan on BJP's 'Sankalp Patra'
What happened in last 10 years only trailer, lot more needs to be done for Kerala and India: Modi in Kerala
Man-animal conflict becomes poll issue in Pilibhit as over 20 villagers mauled by tigers in 5 years
India's passenger EV market will hot up in next 3-4 years
Celebrating Six Years of Excellence: Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. Recognized as Great Place To Work® for the Sixth Consecutive Year