20% of Neanderthal Genome Survives In Humans 202
vinces99 writes "A substantial fraction of the Neanderthal genome persists in modern human populations. A new analysis (abstract) of 665 people from Europe and East Asia shows that more than 20 percent of the Neanderthal genome survives in the DNA of this contemporary group, whose genetic information is part of the 1,000 Genomes Project."
Another study published today (abstract) finds that Neanderthal genes are present in some parts of our genome that we've found to be important. Some of the genes influence fertility and skin pigment, and others actually increase our susceptibility to diseases like diabetes and lupus. The researchers are now taking these known genetic markers and seeing if they correlate with any other health conditions.
Human-specific part is 20% common... (Score:2, Insightful)
I think they're referring to the section of our DNA which is specific to the Homo genus.
That is, DNA for the Homo genus is probably about 99.5% or more in common, across all species of Homo. You can tell where the Homo DNA starts by comparing it to other members of the subfamily Homininae, and looking for differences.
So, in the Homo-specific portions of our DNA, TFA is claiming that 20% or so is common to modern humans and Neanderthals. That still seems low, given the interbreeding of Neanderthal and Modern Humans, and the fact we both share a direct common ancestor.
Re:As someone who works in tech support... (Score:2, Insightful)
"Resources and planning" is not the only way to survive the cold. While there is a disagreement with Allen's rule (surface area exposed decreases in colder climates), the generally accepted idea is that physically they were better adapted for cold.
There may have been social behaviors that account for temperature dependent survival, which is attributable to being fucking cold rather than being smart.
And the coup de grace. If they died off because of a warming earth, they were not smart enough to adapt to warm. But you're saying they were smart enough to survive cold. That doesn't follow. If they didn't need to adapt to cold, but did need to adapt to warm, then survival was a physical characteristic that required no brains.
Not saying they were dumb, but you didn't support your idea - you undermined it.
Re:Party "Animal" (Score:4, Insightful)
We perhaps are only seeing the art that is in hard-to-get-to caves precisely because it is hard to get to. Most surface art would be wiped out by weather or vandals. Thus, we are probably not seeing an accurate representation of original locations.