Post by Διαμονδ on Jan 21, 2018 0:46:10 GMT
Genes of Neanderthals - the culprits of depression and nicotine dependence!
Scientists have found a relationship between Neanderthals inherited from genes and diseases of modern people - including depression, immune system problems, skin diseases. The results of the study are presented in the journal Science.
The fact that modern Europeans and Asians inherited from 1 to 4 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals (due to crossing after the ancestors of modern people moved from Africa to Eurasia) is known since 2010. But only now scientists managed to compare the genes of Neanderthals with the histories of modern people's illness.
Anthropologists identified 135,000 "Neanderthal" single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and looked at what health problems (in 28,000 study participants) they could affect.
Some connections (for example, the impact of Neanderthal DNA on keratinocytes) have already been discussed in the scientific community. However, there were surprises. For example, some areas of DNA seriously increase the risk of nicotine addiction. There were also SNPs that affect the risk of depression - some sites increase it, others lower it.
A lot of Neanderthal SNPs are associated with mental and neurological diseases. "The brain is a very complex organ, and bringing in genes from creatures of another kind can have negative consequences for it," the author of the article, Corinne Simonti, noted.
In general, modern people retain those fragments of Neanderthal DNA that were supposed to help their ancestors survive in Eurasia, the climate, flora and fauna of which was very different from the homeland of Homo sapiens.
However, in the modern world, many of the properties "encoded" by this DNA have become hazardous to health. For example, one of the gene variants accelerates blood clotting. Previously, it helped people: wounds healed faster, and the body was protected from harmful microbes. However, now hypercoagulation increases the risk of strokes, pulmonary embolism and complications during pregnancy.
lenta.ru/news/2016/02/12/neandergenes/
Scientists have found a relationship between Neanderthals inherited from genes and diseases of modern people - including depression, immune system problems, skin diseases. The results of the study are presented in the journal Science.
The fact that modern Europeans and Asians inherited from 1 to 4 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals (due to crossing after the ancestors of modern people moved from Africa to Eurasia) is known since 2010. But only now scientists managed to compare the genes of Neanderthals with the histories of modern people's illness.
Anthropologists identified 135,000 "Neanderthal" single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and looked at what health problems (in 28,000 study participants) they could affect.
Some connections (for example, the impact of Neanderthal DNA on keratinocytes) have already been discussed in the scientific community. However, there were surprises. For example, some areas of DNA seriously increase the risk of nicotine addiction. There were also SNPs that affect the risk of depression - some sites increase it, others lower it.
A lot of Neanderthal SNPs are associated with mental and neurological diseases. "The brain is a very complex organ, and bringing in genes from creatures of another kind can have negative consequences for it," the author of the article, Corinne Simonti, noted.
In general, modern people retain those fragments of Neanderthal DNA that were supposed to help their ancestors survive in Eurasia, the climate, flora and fauna of which was very different from the homeland of Homo sapiens.
However, in the modern world, many of the properties "encoded" by this DNA have become hazardous to health. For example, one of the gene variants accelerates blood clotting. Previously, it helped people: wounds healed faster, and the body was protected from harmful microbes. However, now hypercoagulation increases the risk of strokes, pulmonary embolism and complications during pregnancy.
lenta.ru/news/2016/02/12/neandergenes/
