From ScienceDaily:
Although it’s widely known that modern humans carry traces of Neanderthal DNA, a new international study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that Neanderthal Y-chromosome genes disappeared from the human genome long ago.
Apparently, 2.5 to 4 percent of DNA sequences are thought be from Neanderthals.
Question: Has anyone tried doing that with any other discrete group?
Why is not yet clear. The Neanderthal Y chromosome genes could have simply drifted out of the human gene pool by chance over the millennia. Another possibility, said Mendez, is that Neanderthal Y chromosomes include genes that are incompatible with other human genes, and he and his colleagues have found evidence supporting this idea. Indeed, one of the Y chromosome genes that differ in Neanderthals has previously been implicated in transplant rejection when males donate organs to women.
Okay, but that’s not a whole lot to go on. The team is planning further experiments. More. Paper. (public access)
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This from The Scientist:
While many people today possess some Neanderthal DNA, the Neanderthal Y chromosome has not been found in modern humans; the researchers suspect it has likely gone extinct.
“That could be one reason why we don’t see Neanderthal Y chromosomes in modern human populations,” Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading, U.K., who was not involved in the study told New Scientist.
But could just one guy stumbling into the gene sampling clinic to get out of the blizzard and sober up with some free coffee and donuts upset all that… ? 😉
For example, brain imaging studies have turned up some really weird brains in apparently normal people.
New Scientist knows that the missing Y chromosome kept us apart from the Neanderthals:
It seems we were genetically incompatible with our ancient relatives – and male fetuses conceived through sex with Neanderthal males would have miscarried.
Hey, it’s interesting, but we’ll see.
And weird. Looking at the artists’ impression NS offers of the Neanderthal, I figure we always need a few guys like that on the team. In case it gets serious and someone thinks we are kidding.
See also: Neanderthal Man: The long-lost relative turns up again, this time with documents
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