Humans getting into interspecies dating? Not on this planet oh wait, that already happened.While there was really no such thing as dating hundreds of thousands of years ago, when it was more of a find your mate and dont get eaten sort of thing, there is evidence that Homo sapiens interbred with other proto-human species in the distant past.
Neanderthals were one of those species (and also the butt of endless caveman jokes). Denisovans were another. Geneticist and computer scientistAdam Siepel developed an algorithm to trace human genetics and recently published a study in PLOS Genetics. He andhis research teamhave now found that these groups gave us more of their DNA than we thought, and thatsome of us have genes from a mysterious ancestral hominid, possibly Homo erectus. There was only one way for that to happen. But why did Homo sapiens end up taking over while Neanderthals and Denisovans eventually vanished?
"That is a great matter of speculation among both archaelogists and geneticistscould be disease, conquest, out-competition for scarce resources, or perhaps the modern humans simply absorbed them.There is little hard evidence,"Siepeltold SYFY WIRE."But the one thing that we can see, as geneticists, is that these Neanderthal and Denisovan populations had relatively low levels of genetic diversity, suggesting they may have been prone to genetic diseases and/or particularly susceptible to infectious diseases."
Hybridization of a species results in introgression, or the genetic exchange which occurs in interbreeding species. Humans migrated out of Africa to Eurasia about 50,000 years ago and interbred with the Neanderthal population there. This is the migration and subsequent genetic merging that is the most recognized example of such a phenomenon. What Siepel found, using an updated ancestral recombination graph (ARG) algorithm called ARGweaver-D, is that they were already headed elsewhere much earlier, around 200,000-300,000 years ago. The algorithm also revealed interbreeding between mystery super-archaic ancestors with both Neanderthals and Denisovans before either of those species interbred with ancient Homo sapiens.
Homo erectus is the most likely ancient relative of humans to be that ancestor. Now extinct except for fragments of DNA that show up in some modern human samples, these proto-humans were the first Homo sapiensrelatives that showed body proportions similar to what you see when you look in the mirror. Unlike earlier hominids, the arms and legs of Homo erectus had evolved to be shorter than its torso. They were also the first hominids believed to have migrated out of Africa. This strengthens the case for interbreeding with Denisovans and Neanderthals, especially Denisovans.
That has to make you wonder. If you've ever taken a commercial DNA test and your results came back with a small percentage labeled "unknown", could that be a connection to the mystery ancestor?
"Some of the commercial tests specifically look for Neanderthal ancestry, but yes, it is possible that superarchaic ancestry, or ancestry from a highly divergent branch of Neanderthals or Denisovans, would be labeled 'unknown'by a commercial test," Siepel said.
The most common genetic transfers happened between Neanderthals and Denisovans, Neanderthals and ancient Homo sapiens, super-archaic ancestors and ancient Homo sapiens who stayed in Africa, and super-archaic ancestors and Denisovans. Alleles, or alternate versions of genes, shared by Denisovans and the mystery ancestor support super-archaic DNA making its way into the modern gene pool when that species interbred with Denisovans. Unfortunately, so did mutations.
"It appears that Neanderthals and Denisovansintroduced deleterious mutations into modern human populations when they interbred with them," Siepel explained."Many of these mutations gradually fadedover time, but some undoubtedly persist.Interestingly, however, we could not find clear evidence of the reverse effectof modern humans introducing deleterious mutations into Neanderthals through this interbreeding.It is possible, though, that we do not yet have enough sensitivity to detect this phenomenon."
Even with an advanced algorithm, it still proved more difficult to identify when and where super-archaic human ancestors interbred with Denisovans than it was to find the same information about Neanderthal or Denisovan interbreeding with Homo sapiens. This is probably because no sequence exists for the genes of the super-archaic ancestor yet, and also because they have been broken over and over again by recombining with the genes of ancient humans and the other two hominid groups so many times. Will we ever really know who the super-archaic ghosts of our ancestors were?
"That is the big question we are all wondering about," said Siepel."It is conceivable that it could be done, at least in principle,if very well-preserved remains were recovered from permafrost or from a cave that is well protected from the environment. But I do not know of any promising leads at present."
So dont be offended if someone calls you a Neanderthal. Just tell them science says you probably are to some extent, and so are they.
View original post here:
Humans have had mystery DNA for 300,000 yearsand now we might finally know what it is - SYFY WIRE
- 1st draft of a human 'pangenome' published, adding millions of ... - May 17th, 2023
- A Brief Guide to Genomics - National Human Genome Research Institute - May 17th, 2023
- Human genetics - Immunogenetics | Britannica - April 23rd, 2023
- A Troublesome Inheritance - Wikipedia - April 23rd, 2023
- Human - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - January 29th, 2023
- Human Genetics and Genomics Training Program - Hopkins Medicine - January 4th, 2023
- Genetics vs. Genomics Fact Sheet - Genome.gov - December 18th, 2022
- Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, PhD - Johns Hopkins University - December 18th, 2022
- Race (human categorization) - Wikipedia - December 2nd, 2022
- Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup - Wikipedia - November 24th, 2022
- Abstracts | International Congress of Human Genetics 2023 - November 24th, 2022
- Human genetic variation - Wikipedia - November 6th, 2022
- Genetics | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program - October 29th, 2022
- Fluent BioSciences showcasing breakthrough solutions to enable unprecedented scale, cost-efficiency and access for single-cell RNA sequencing at the... - October 29th, 2022
- Researchers seek to unravel the mystery of susceptibility to drug addiction - Newswise - October 4th, 2022
- NIH initiative to systematically investigate and establish function of every human gene - National Institutes of Health (.gov) - October 4th, 2022
- ANGPTL7, a therapeutic target for increased intraocular pressure and glaucoma | Communications Biology - Nature.com - October 4th, 2022
- Does obesity have more to do with the brain than we initially thought? - Medical News Today - October 4th, 2022
- Who will get the call from Stockholm? It's time for STAT's 2022 Nobel Prize predictions - STAT - October 4th, 2022
- Solving medical mysteries: Physicians and researchers collaborate to study the most challenging cases - AAMC - October 4th, 2022
- Mystery gene matures the skeleton of the cell - EurekAlert - October 4th, 2022
- What Is The Most Important factor Driving The Global Human Genetics Market? - PharmiWeb.com - September 25th, 2022
- How Africa's genetic diversity can be harnessed to close the continent's 'drug and treatment gap' - Genetic Literacy Project - September 25th, 2022
- Ability to move to the pulse of music has genetic link - DTNEXT - September 25th, 2022
- Is the Spike Protein Changing Our Gene Expression? - The Epoch Times - September 25th, 2022
- How prehistoric DNA is helping to unlock the secrets of human evolution - EL PAS USA - September 25th, 2022
- Personalised medicine and the advantages of big data and AI-based diagnostics - Medical Device Network - September 25th, 2022
- Viewpoint: In the post Roe v Wade world, what changes should a biology textbook writer make to address the medical repercussions of Dobbs? - Genetic... - September 25th, 2022
- Bears' ability to regulate insulin narrowed down to eight proteins WSU Insider - WSU News - September 25th, 2022
- Sex, Selection and Biodiversity - Syracuse.edu - Syracuse University - September 25th, 2022
- Was the Russian Flu the first coronavirus pandemic? Find out at next Science Caf - University of Nebraska at Kearney - September 25th, 2022
- University of Chicago South Side Science Fest created to show off the fun, myriad pathways into field. - Chicago Tribune - September 25th, 2022
- The genetics of human personality - PubMed - August 14th, 2022
- Genetics - The Harvey Institute for Human Genetics - GBMC HealthCare in ... - August 14th, 2022
- Degrees of the Future 2022: Genetics - Gizmodo - August 14th, 2022
- U of U Health-Led Research Awarded $28 Million to Explore HIV's Inner Workings and Vulnerabilities - University of Utah Health Care - August 14th, 2022
- Revisiting Companies That Had Their IPO in 2018 - Investment U - August 14th, 2022
- Monkeypox Myth Busting: Here's What You Need to Know - The Mighty - August 14th, 2022
- Relay Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results and Corporate Highlights - Yahoo Finance - August 5th, 2022
- Baylor receives NCI grant to study liver cancer risk and prevention - Baylor College of Medicine News - August 5th, 2022
- Whole Exome Sequencing Market reach a valuation of US$ 4,256.30 Mn, at a CAGR of 19.24% in the Forecast 2030 - BioSpace - August 5th, 2022
- Mendels Genetic Revolution and the Legacy of Scientific Racism - NewsClick - August 5th, 2022
- AMGEN TO ACQUIRE CHEMOCENTRYX FOR $4 BILLION IN CASH - BioSpace - August 5th, 2022
- Cotton Buds Market Value Is Estimated to Reach USD 747.16 BN By 2028, With 3.2% CAGR Credence Research - Digital Journal - August 5th, 2022
- Verve Therapeutics Shares Up 84%; ARKG Offers Exposure - ETFdb.com - July 27th, 2022
- Double up on the guac? Those avocados are good for your heart health - American Heart Association - July 27th, 2022
- Extending the PAX1 spectrum: a dominantly inherited variant causes oculo-auriculo-vertebral syndrome | European Journal of Human Genetics - Nature.com - July 27th, 2022
- Scientists Unravel the Mystery of Junk Genes That Are Key to Brain Development - SciTechDaily - July 27th, 2022
- COVID-19 Can Make the Brain Age by 2 Decades; Here's 1 Way to Reverse Aging - The Epoch Times - July 27th, 2022
- Mice Model Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type, Service, Technology, Indication, End User, Application, and Mode -... - July 27th, 2022
- Master's Degree in Human Genetics | Human Genetics | Michigan Medicine ... - July 11th, 2022
- Here's how the $100 Human Genome will Change Medicine - BioSpace - July 11th, 2022
- Genomic medicine: the role of the nursing workforce - Nursing Times - July 11th, 2022
- AbbVie Half Breaks Up with Alector on Alzheimer's - BioSpace - July 11th, 2022
- The human identification market size is projected to reach - GlobeNewswire - July 11th, 2022
- Global wheat production can be doubled to feed millions and save land, say scientists - Sky News - July 11th, 2022
- Huntsville native among TIMEs 100 most influential people - WHNT News 19 - July 3rd, 2022
- New hope for IVF patients as global study published in Human Reproduction shows AI can effectively assess genetic integrity of embryos - Yahoo Finance - July 3rd, 2022
- A Week At The Most Secretive Conference On Aging - Forbes - July 3rd, 2022
- Human genetics shape the gut microbiome - PMC - June 13th, 2022
- expert reaction to a conference abstract on retinal screening predicting risk of myocardial infarction - Science Media Centre - June 13th, 2022
- New Comprehensive Map Ties Every Human Gene to Its Function - SciTechDaily - June 13th, 2022
- Buffalo shooters manifesto quoted a university researcher. Thats raising questions about racism in academia - Yahoo News - June 13th, 2022
- Thalidomide could be used as a therapeutic for AVMs - Cosmos - June 13th, 2022
- How Electric Fish Were Able to Evolve Electric Organs - UT News - University of Texas - June 4th, 2022
- Survival of the Best: The Past, Present and Future of Plants - CSRwire.com - June 4th, 2022
- AMGEN ANNOUNCES WEBCAST OF 2022 JEFFERIES HEALTHCARE CONFERENCE | News | wfmz.com - 69News WFMZ-TV - June 4th, 2022
- Experts Discover New Disease Caused by Faulty Genes Affecting the Kidney and Liver: Newcastle University Study - Nature World News - June 4th, 2022
- At-Home Colorectal Cancer Testing and Follow-Up Vary by Ethnicity - Medscape - June 4th, 2022
- Who is your real parent? Our Father on Netflix depicts the dark side of 'secret serial sperm donation'. My birth has a similar origin but with a more... - June 4th, 2022
- Autism and the complete human genome: Q&A with Evan Eichler | Spectrum - Spectrum - May 15th, 2022
- Increased Mutations in Children Can Be Traced Back to Mistakes in Father's Sperm - Neuroscience News - May 15th, 2022
- Not All Is Rosy For The Pink Pigeon - Eurasia Review - May 15th, 2022
- Why haven't we cloned a human yet? - Livescience.com - May 15th, 2022
- Study probes the relationship between genetics, proteins, and disease risk - The Hub at Johns Hopkins - May 15th, 2022
- Singular Genomics Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board - BioSpace - May 15th, 2022
- COVID Resistance Might Be Tied To Genetics: Experts - Medical Daily - May 15th, 2022
- Letter: Why no to Roe and abortion - INFORUM - May 15th, 2022
- Gut Microbiome Composition Predictive of Patient Response to Statins - Business Wire - May 15th, 2022
- Finding A Place In Science - Texas A&M Today - Texas A&M University Today - May 15th, 2022