Neanderthals live on in humans
Researchers may have link between extinct ancestors’ DNA and loneliness, smoking
BERLIN— Some human traits that are linked to sunlight — including mood and sleep patterns — may be influenced by a person’s Neanderthal forefathers, according to a study published Thursday.
Researchers examined the genome of more than 100,000 Britons who inherited DNA from Neanderthal ancestors and found they reported higher rates of listlessness, loneliness, staying up late and smoking.
The study by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, also confirmed that some Neanderthal DNA found in people of non-African descent affects their skin and hair colour, though not in any single direction.
The findings suggest Neanderthals were already well-adapted to low and variable levels of sunlight in Europe when modern humans first arrived there from Africa some 50,000 years ago, said Michael Dannemann, who co-authored the study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Scientists have known for years that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred. About 2 per cent of the DNA of people of non-African descent comes from Neanderthals, a species that became extinct about 40,000 years ago.
Previous studies have examined the link between diseases and Neanderthal DNA, concluding that the ancient DNA can influence illnesses such as diabetes.
Dannemann and his colleague Janet Kelso decided to look at the impact of Neanderthal DNA on non-disease traits in modern humans. They compared DNA patterns from 112,338 people of British ancestry stored in a database called the U.K. Biobank with the genome of a Neanderthal found in southern Siberia, near the Russia-Mongolia border.
They were able to link 15 physical traits to Neanderthal DNA, includ- ing several traits for hair and skin colour but also behaviour, such as a person’s “chronotype” — that is, whether they are a morning or an evening person. Those with specific sections of Neanderthal DNA were noticeably more likely to describe themselves as an evening person.