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“Anyone who has inherited this genetic variant is three times more likely to have a ventilator in the event of a coronavirus infection,” said Hugo Zeberg, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. Led by Svante Pääbo, it was scientists from the German Institute who deciphered the entire gene pool of Neanderthal man from the DNA of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal bone found in Croatia over more than ten years.
Scientists have also shown that about two percent of the DNA of people in Europe, Asia, and America today comes from Neanderthals, and they have since shown that there is some sort of Neanderthal inheritance in the DNA of Africans as well.
In a study presented Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature, Zeberg and Svante Pääbo identified a group of genes whose presence increases the risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure in coronavirus infection. These genes have been found to belong to a group inherited from Neanderthal man. This group of genes is found in 16 percent of the European population, half the population of South Asia, although it is not present at all in Africa and East Asia.
“It turned out that modern humans inherited these genetic variants from Neanderthals when they mixed with them about 60,000 years ago,” Zeberg explained. However, the researchers were unable to explore why this group of genes causes complications in Covid-19 patients.
“It is concerning that such genetic inheritance from Neanderthal man has such tragic consequences in the current pandemic. This should be investigated as soon as possible,” said Pääbo.
According to the researchers, the gene pool is not equally present in different geographic areas. Although it is found in the genomes of about half of South Asians, especially Bangladesh, it is only carried by 16 percent of Europeans. It has the highest prevalence among Bangladeshis, with 63 percent of them. For example, research in the UK has shown that people of Bangladeshi descent have roughly twice the risk of dying from a coronavirus infection compared to the general population.
Today’s man is from Africa and mixes with Neanderthals in the Middle East. The two human races met about 60,000 years ago and then lived side by side for 30,000 years. The Neanderthal man’s genetic heritage started from here on his journey to Europe and Asia. Since then, numerous studies have demonstrated the genetic inheritance of Neanderthal man.
Cover image: Getty Images
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