Neanderthal News and Research

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Study reveals climate as main driver of changes in body size for the past million years

An interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by the Universities of Cambridge and Tübingen, has gathered measurements of body and brain size for over 300 fossils from the genus Homo found across the globe.

8 Jul 2021

Neanderthal-derived genetic locus influences COVID-19 severity in humans

Researchers in the United States and Estonia have identified four genetic variants on a chromosome 3 haplotype that may be responsible for driving the association between this locus and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

15 Jun 2021

Researchers use a unique approach to document the diet of Neanderthals

Neanderthals, extinct cousins of modern humans, occupied Western Eurasia before disappearing and although it was once thought that they travelled as far east as Uzbekistan, in recent years an international research team with the participation of the University of Valencia discovered that they reached two thousand kilometers further East, to the Altai Mountains of Siberia.

9 Jun 2021

Severe COVID-19 linked to genetic clotting predisposition

Thus, the need to stratify the risk of severe or critical disease in patients presenting with SARS-CoV-2 infection remains a crying necessity. A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv server discusses the relationship between severe disease and pre-existing susceptibility to clots and other diseases of the cardiovascular system.

11 May 2021

Neanderthal-derived protein may protect against COVID-19 susceptibility and severity

Researchers at the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital have discovered that increased levels of the protein OAS1 are associated with reduced mortality and less severe disease requiring ventilation among patients with COVID-19.

26 Feb 2021

Neanderthal gene can confer protection against severe COVID-19, finds study

A new study has detailed how some of the genes in the human genome inherited from Neanderthals appear to confer a protective effect against severe COVID-19.

22 Feb 2021

Genetic variant inherited from Neanderthals associated with protection against severe COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, impacts people in different ways after infection. Some experience only mild or no symptoms at all while others become sick enough to require hospitalization and may develop respiratory failure and die.

16 Feb 2021

Scientists study how a single gene alteration may have separated modern humans from extinct hominins

As a professor of pediatrics and cellular and molecular medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Alysson R. Muotri, PhD, has long studied how the brain develops and what goes wrong in neurological disorders.

15 Feb 2021

Ancestral components of human gut microbiota are fundamental to health

Neanderthals' gut microbiota already included some beneficial micro-organisms that are also found in our own intestine.

5 Feb 2021

Large study provides new understanding of genome diversity in Ukrainian population

Today, the largest study of genetic diversity in Ukraine was published in the open science journal GigaScience.

13 Jan 2021

Neanderthal gene variant increases risk of severe COVID-19

Researchers in Germany have conducted a study showing that between 2 and 8% of people in Eurasia carry a genetic variant inherited from Neanderthals that significantly increases the risk of becoming critically ill with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

15 Dec 2020

Genetic heritage from Neanderthals linked to severe COVID-19

Since first appearing in late 2019, the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has had a range of impacts on those it infects. Some people become severely ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and require hospitalization, whereas others have mild symptoms or are even asymptomatic.

30 Sep 2020

Risk of severe COVID-19 in ~50 kb genomic segment inherited from Neanderthals

Researchers have found that a small fragment of the genetic code that has been inherited by modern humans from Neanderthals could carry the secret of why some people succumb to a severe form of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, while others recover.

7 Jul 2020

Neanderthal gene in women boosts infertility

It is still unclear why some women go into labor for long periods, and some face a high risk of childbirth. Also, some women fall pregnant quickly, while others may take years before they conceive. The answer may be due to a gene inherited from the Neanderthals, an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago.

31 May 2020

Genomic analysis compares ADHD-related genetic variants in Neanderthal and modern human samples

The frequency of genetic variants associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has decreased progressively in the evolutionary human lineage from the Palaeolithic to nowadays, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

27 May 2020

European Neanderthals mostly used aquatic resources 100,000 years ago

Ernestina Badal, professor at the Department of Prehistory, Archeology and Ancient History at the University of Valencia, has participated in research published today in the prestigious journal Science that confirms that fishing and shellfishing contributed significantly to the subsistence economy of European Neanderthals about 100,000 years ago.

27 Mar 2020

Scientists think they've found the earliest interbreeding event

A new study published in the journal Science Advances in February 2020 reports that it has found the earliest interbreeding event between different human populations ever, where the "super-archaics" of Eurasia interbred with another group known as the Neanderthal-Denisovan population long ago.

20 Feb 2020