All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm

[^_^ 5,021]

i guess now 'neanderthal' will no longer be a slur but a compliment!

Mon Jul 18, 2011

If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings.

Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal's Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage.

"This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred," Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release. His team believes most, if not all, of the interbreeding took place in the Middle East, while modern humans were migrating out of Africa and spreading to other regions.

The ancestors of Neanderthals left Africa about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. They evolved over the millennia mostly in what are now France, Spain, Germany and Russia. They went extinct, or were simply absorbed into the modern human population, about 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthals possessed the gene for language and had sophisticated music, art and tool craftsmanship skills, so they must have not been all that unattractive to modern humans at the time.

"In addition, because our methods were totally independent of Neanderthal material, we can also conclude that previous results were not influenced by contaminating artifacts," Labuda said.

This work goes back to nearly a decade ago, when Labuda and his colleagues identified a piece of DNA, called a haplotype, in the human X chromosome that seemed different. They questioned its origins.

Fast forward to 2010, when the Neanderthal genome was sequenced. The researchers could then compare the haplotype to the Neanderthal genome as well as to the DNA of existing humans. The scientists found that the sequence was present in people across all continents, except for sub-Saharan Africa, and including Australia.

"There is little doubt that this haplotype is present because of mating with our ancestors and Neanderthals," said Nick Patterson of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. Patterson did not participate in the latest research. He added, "This is a very nice result, and further analysis may help determine more details."

David Reich, a Harvard Medical School geneticist, added, "Dr. Labuda and his colleagues were the first to identify a genetic variation in non-Africans that was likely to have come from an archaic population. This was done entirely without the Neanderthal genome sequence, but in light of the Neanderthal sequence, it is now clear that they were absolutely right!"

The modern human/Neanderthal combo likely benefitted our species, enabling it to survive in harsh, cold regions that Neanderthals previously had adapted to.

"Variability is very important for long-term survival of a species," Labuda concluded. "Every addition to the genome can be enriching."

http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics-neanderthal-110718.html

Edited July 19, 2011 by \

[Ban Hammer 13,491]

go ahead, i'm protected by the tos now!

Post Content intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a broad demographic or group of people identified by a unifying trait or characteristic (discrimination). For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech.

[^_^ 5,021]

go ahead, i'm protected by the tos now!

Post Content intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a broad demographic or group of people identified by a unifying trait or characteristic (discrimination). For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech.

Yeah no more dissing neanderthals seeing how most of us are!

[Ban Hammer 13,491]

Yeah no more dissing neanderthals seeing how most of us are!

yo bro!

[rika60607 215]

I am shocked!

Abstract

Recent work on the Neandertal genome has raised the possibility of admixture between Neandertals and the expanding population of ** sapiens who left Africa between 80 and 50 Kya (thousand years ago) to colonize the rest of the world. Here, we provide evidence of a notable presence (9% overall) of a Neandertal-derived X chromosome segment among all contemporary human populations outside Africa. Our analysis of 6,092 X-chromosomes from all inhabited continents supports earlier contentions that a mosaic of lineages of different time depths and different geographic provenance could have contributed to the genetic constitution of modern humans. It indicates a very early admixture between expanding African migrants and Neandertals prior to or very early on the route of the out-of-Africa expansion that led to the successful colonization of the planet.

[^_^ 5,021]

yo bro!

we should start hating on each other based on who is more neanderthal.

[Ban Hammer 13,491]

we should start hating on each other based on who is more neanderthal.

do you frequently engage in competitions where it's assured you'll lose?

[faust-yusov 103]

Interesting results clumsily expressed.

Continual references to "our ancestors", when those of African descent have already been excluded, betray a presumption of an all-white readership.

One wonders if a more precisely worded article could have prevented the slew of racism that presently consitutes the comment section.

[^_^ 5,021]

One wonders if a more precisely worded article could have prevented the slew of racism that presently consitutes the comment section.

No. This is the Internet. One wonders if you are new to it.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

No. This is the Internet. One wonders if you are new to it.

[Ban Hammer 13,491]

No. This is the Internet. One wonders if you are new to it.

[faust-yusov 103]

No. This is the Internet. One wonders if you are new to it.

Goodness! A sentiment so pernicious and nihilistic yet simultaneously banal. Like a "Googlewhack" of abject irrelevance.

Personally, if I were writing an article for widespread consumption that skirts quite closley and dangerously with the implication that white people at one point in their ancestry interbred with an intellectually superior species, I would take quite some care over my wording! I would for example not refer to mine and my readers' ancestors with a broadly inclusive possessive pronoun that suggests I'm unaware of the existence of black people with internet access! Just a thought!

Edited July 19, 2011 by faust-yusov

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Goodness! A sentiment so pernicious and nihilistic yet simultaneously banal. Like a "Googlewhack" of abject irrelevance.

Personally, if I were writing an article for widespread consumption that skirts quite closley and dangerously with the implication that white people at one point in their ancestry interbred with an intellectually superior species, I would take quite some care over my wording! I would for example not refer to mine and my readers' ancestors with a broadly inclusive possessive pronoun that suggests I'm unaware of the existence of black people with internet access! Just a thought!

What's that in English?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Goodness! A sentiment so pernicious and nihilistic yet simultaneously banal. Like a "Googlewhack" of abject irrelevance.

Personally, if I were writing an article for widespread consumption that skirts quite closley and dangerously with the implication that white people at one point in their ancestry interbred with an intellectually superior species, I would take quite some care over my wording! I would for example not refer to mine and my readers' ancestors with a broadly inclusive possessive pronoun that suggests I'm unaware of the existence of black people with internet access! Just a thought!

plus 1

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... if I were writing an article for widespread consumption that skirts quite closley and dangerously with the implication that white people at one point in their ancestry interbred with an intellectually superior species, I would take quite some care over my wording!

I am sure you would.

The point I am trying to make here is this - no matter how much 'care' you would take in your wording, an internet comment board on an issue like this will attract the racists and the trolls and teens who think it's funny to be racist.

It's the nature of the medium and the fact that you seem to think you can avoid that by better wording an article betrays your ignorance of the medium you're participating in.