The Viruses That Neanderthals Spread to Humans

October 4, 2018 8:52 PM

Deep in Human DNA, a Gift From the Neanderthals. "Long ago, Neanderthals probably infected modern humans with viruses, perhaps even an ancient form of H.I.V. But our extinct relatives also gave us genetic defenses." "The two ancient hominin groups swapped genes, diseases, and genes that protect against diseases, according to a new study."
posted by homunculus (9 comments total)

You’re welcome.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:22 PM on October 4, 2018 [44 favorites]

I really want these guys to come back.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:37 PM on October 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Exogamist.
posted by Segundus at 10:48 PM on October 4, 2018

is it cave herpes, i thought it was cave herpes
posted by poffin boffin at 12:15 AM on October 5, 2018 [4 favorites]

Don't forget Road Rage. This too is a vestige of neanderthalism.
posted by Fupped Duck at 7:39 AM on October 5, 2018

I thought aggressive fighty Neanderthals was part of the old unproven mythos?
posted by Meatbomb at 10:31 AM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

I mean first of all they didn't have roads.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:16 PM on October 5, 2018 [3 favorites]

I mean first of all they didn't have roads.

I'm demonstrating my superior Cro-magnon powers of restraint by not making with the Flintstones' references.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:23 PM on October 8, 2018

Why White Supremacists Are Chugging Milk (and Why Geneticists Are Alarmed)

Instead of long-discounted proxies like skull circumference and family pedigrees, according to experts who track the far-right, today’s proponents of racial hierarchy are making their case by misinterpreting research on the human genome itself. And in debates that have largely been limited to ivory-tower forums, the scientists whose job is to mine humanity’s genetic variations for the collective good are grappling with how to respond.

...

Already, some of those audiences are flaunting DNA ancestry test results indicating exclusively European heritage as though they were racial ID cards. They are celebrating traces of Neanderthal DNA not found in people with only African ancestry. And they are trading messages with the coded term “race realism,” which takes oxygen from the claim that the liberal scientific establishment has obscured the truth about biological racial differences.

FFS.
posted by homunculus at 2:44 PM on October 19, 2018