Scientists believe that 1.8 to 2.6% of the DNA of modern humans was inherited from the Neanderthals. This DNA makes us susceptible to heart attacks, eating disorders, and schizophrenia.
Neanderthals, who lived primarily in Western Europe, mysteriously disappeared around 40,000 years ago. Modern humans migrated from Africa and met with Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago.
The new findings result from a comprehensive reconstruction of the genome of a Neanderthal woman whose skeletal remains were found in a cave in Croatia.
A new study led by Svante Pääbo and Kay Prüfer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany concluded that this new genome analysis “adds to mounting evidence that Neanderthal ancestry influences disease risk in present-day humans, particularly with respect to neurological, psychiatric, immunological and dermatological” traits.
Reference: LA Times
Image credit: Sci-News.com