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Modern Europeans share about 2% of their alleles with Neanderthals might be a more correct way to put it. But to understand that sentence, you have to understa
by loudmax 11y ago
Modern Europeans share about 2% of their alleles with Neanderthals might be a more correct way to put it. But to understand that sentence, you have to understand what's an allele (and I'm not completely sure I'm using the term correctly).
- danieltillett 11y agoThis is pretty close. A simpler way of describing this is 2% of the average genetic heritage of a European is able to be traced back to Neanderthals. This is a lower bound and it may be higher. The more interesting observation is that the 2% is not the same 2% in everyone of a European genetic background. Overall at least 25% of the Neanderthal genome is present across the whole population.