Current Events –
Neanderthals + Early Humans = Us
Where did the human race come from? Â Are we actually the descendants of Neanderthals?
Current Events
According to scientists, Homo sapiens (that’s us) mated and made babies with Neanderthals much more than previously thought. Or, to put it bluntly, early humans just couldn’t stop having sex with Neanderthals.  According to a new study published in the journal of Science, that interesting tidbit of sexual history has left a unique mark on the human genome, possibly influencing our immune systems and metabolism, .
Scientists analyzed the genetic information of more than 1,500 people from all around the world and determined that ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans. In fact, they discovered that many Asians, Europeans and the Melanesians of Papua New Guinea had Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry.
If you’ve never heard of Denisovans, they were related to Neanderthals but genetically different — similar to the way Neanderthals were distinct from modern humans. Interestingly, fossil remains of Denisovans were discovered inside a Siberian cave back in 2008.
The discovery of traces of Denisovan DNA in the people of Melanesia is significant because the Pacific Islanders live thousands of miles away from the Siberian region that Denisovans are believed to have existed.
“It is still not exactly clear when and where Melanesian ancestors crossed paths with Denisovans, but our best guess is somewhere in mainland Southeast Asia,” said University of Washington evolutionary geneticist Joshua Akey, who helped lead the study.
Current Events
The study confirms early theories that our human ancestors are in fact from Africa. When they left the continent, then interbred with other hominins more than 50,000 years ago.
“What was surprising from our study is that it revealed the history of contact with Neanderthals was more complicated than previously anticipated,” Akey said.
The research revealed that all non-Africans who were analyzed in the study had traces of Neanderthal, and different groups from Europe, Asia and Melanesia had distinctive blends of Neanderthal genes.  According to Benjamin Vernot, a postdoctoral student in genomic sciences at the University of Washington who led the project, this likely means humans repeatedly “ran into” these hominins. Those resulting sexual encounters may have played an important role in providing humans with the biology that impacts such things as our skin and hair, giving us infection-fighting advantages.
“Many of these genes are involved in immunity and likely helped our ancestors fight new pathogens that they were exposed to as they dispersed into new environments,” Akey said.
This study has been a game changer in giving scientists new clues about the archaic DNA that may have influenced traits in modern humans.
“Studies like ours help to better understand the sources contributing to patterns of human genomic diversity,” Akey added.
The study confirms early theories that our human ancestors are in fact from Africa.
For me that's the part that said it all. Good read.