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Neanderthals had outsize effect on human biology
- empiricus 11y agoIn the article only the negative effects of Neanderthal genes are discussed. Is this because genetic datasets are mostly about gene/diseases correlations, or is it because the researchers did not analyze any gene/benefits datasets? The third option (all Neanderthal genes are bad) does not seem reasonable.
- hollerith 11y ago>In the article only the negative effects of Neanderthal genes are discussed. Actually, that is not true: "It revealed links between Neanderthal DNA and depression, obesity and certain skin disorders, with some variants being associated with an increased risk and others with a reduced risk" (emphasis mine).
- sanxiyn 11y agoFrom the article: "Using de-identified genome data and medical records from 28,000 hospital patients" I don't know whether there are good gene/benefits datasets, but they used gene/diseases datasets.
- allengeorge 11y agoThe article lists a number of positive effects from "archaic genes". Two include: genes that improve the speed of one's immune response, and genes (present in Tibetans) that allows them to live at high altitudes. It's just that the effects aren't always completely positive or negative and, some of the Neanderthal/Denisovian genes have effects that "might be maladaptive today".
- digitalzombie 11y agoThey also went to say these "maladvantage" were advantage back in the days but because of today lifestyle they've becomes a hinder. So... they were positive effect but now have become a relic of the past and a burden. edit: Quote: “Many traits that were adaptive 10,000 years ago might be maladaptive today” because of lifestyle, diet and other shifts, notes Rasmus Nielsen, a population geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley.
- quot66555 11y agoIf there were notable positive effects, it would likely be danced around, because saying positive things about the groups with Neanderthal admixture is a touchy subject.
- riffraff 11y agocould you expand on that? I have never heard of anything like it.
- iskander 11y agoThe highest rate of Neanderthal admixture is in East Asians, but there is also a non-trivial rate (2-6%) in most Europeans. The admixture in sub-Saharan Africans is much lower, which creates a risk of any discussion of positive Neanderthal traits pulling in much broader baggage relating to race & genetics.
- johnchristopher 11y agoFine, but who is eluding the discussions ? PHD in european universities ? The media ? Is research on the subject tabooed and not encouraged ?
- scottlocklin 11y agoWhat strange planet have you teleported in from? Yes, research on the subject of race is taboo in Western Civilization. Not so much in Asia.
- johnchristopher 11y agoI come from Europe (eh). You didn't answer: is that vetoed in public research program or is it the media or the philosophy undergrad who don't know how to deal with the subject and thus avoid it ?
- oh_sigh 11y ago
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoI like the idea that Neanderthal genes helped Homo Sapiens spread, through increased resistance to diseases unique to Europe. Explains why their gene contribution is so prevalent - it directly contributed to survival in the new environment.
- johnchristopher 11y agoMaybe so but the article only mention diseases both genres suffered from and that are DNA related (asthma, skin disorders, etc.) with almost identical links to genes. I'd venture to guess HS would have spread with or without Neanderthal genes.
- will_work4tears 11y agoInterestingly, if you use 23andMe's genetic analysis service, it'll tell you how much Neanderthal DNA you have. The average European has 2.7% (I have 3.2%).
- a8da6b0c91d 11y agoHas there been any sort of serious audit or quality review of the 23andMe service? I'm dimly curious but would at present guess it's mostly a load of nonsense, and who even knows how replicable their results are.
- will_work4tears 11y agoI'm not entirely sure, I mean, from my level of understanding it could all be relatively faked data and I wouldn't know any different. They claim they do quality review[0] and you can compare them to some of the competition[1], and they don't offer anything except genealogy records and your results in a big file you can download. You can use that information to parse on other sites for medical things (there's quite a few sites that take the data file as an upload, actually). I'd be interested in reading a more comprehensive audit though. [0] - https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202904760-Quality-Review https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202904760... [1] - http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_testing_comparison_chart http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_testing_comparison_c...
- blacksmith_tb 11y agoYou can download your raw data, and/or run it through Promethease: https://www.promethease.com/ https://www.promethease.com/ (I will admit to not having compared more than a handful of SNPs with what 23andMe has to say about them, and I suppose they could have tampered with the data, but that seems like a lot of effort for the one-time payment they got from me...)
- pavel_lishin 11y agoDo they allow you to test your DNA anonymously? I have no interest in having a company linking my DNA analysis to my identity.