The Neanderthal in us

Contemporary Europeans have as many as 3 times more Neanderthal variants in genes involved in lipid catabolism than Asians and Africans

2014-04-02

(Press-News.org) This news release is available in German.

Although Neanderthals are extinct, fragments of their genomes persist in modern humans. These shared regions are unevenly distributed across the genome and some regions are particularly enriched with Neanderthal variants. An international team of researchers led by Philipp Khaitovich of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology in Shanghai, China, show that DNA sequences shared between modern humans and Neanderthals are specifically enriched in genes involved in the metabolic breakdown of lipids. This sharing of genes is seen mainly in contemporary humans of European descent and may have given a selective advantage to the individuals with the Neanderthal variants.

The researchers analyzed the distribution of Neanderthal variants in the genomes of eleven contemporary human populations of African, Asian and European descent. They found that genes involved in the lipid synthesis contained a particularly high number of Neanderthal variants in contemporary humans of European origin, but not in Asians and Africans. "These sequences show signs of recent positive selection", says Philipp Khaitovich of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology in Shanghai, China. "This may indicate that they give modern humans carrying the Neanderthal genotype a selective advantage."

Analyzing the influence of Neanderthal variants on lipid processing in modern humans, the researchers further found recent evolutionary changes in lipid concentration and expression of metabolic enzymes in brains of humans of European origin. "We don't know what these lipid concentration changes do to the brain, but the fact that Neanderthal variants might have changed our brain composition has interesting implications", says Philipp Khaitovich. Further work is needed, however, in order to fully assess the potential functional effects of these changes.

INFORMATION: Original publication:

Ekaterina E. Khrameeva, Katarzyna Bozek, Liu He, Zheng Yan, Xi Jiang, Yuning Wei, Kun Tang, Mikhail S. Gelfand, Kay Prufer, Janet Kelso, Svante Paabo, Patrick Giavalisco, Michael Lachmann and Philipp Khaitovich
Neanderthal ancestry drives evolution of lipid catabolism in contemporary Europeans
Nature Communications, 01 April 2014, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4584

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Men who started smoking before age 11 had fatter sons

2014-04-02

Men who started smoking regularly before the age of 11 had sons who, on average, had 5-10kg more body fat than their peers by the time they were in their teens, according to new research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol. The researchers say this could indicate that exposure to tobacco smoke before the start of puberty may lead to metabolic changes in the next generation. The effect, although present, was not seen to the same degree in daughters. Many other factors, including genetic factors and the father's weight, were taken into account ...

Crib mattresses emit potentially harmful chemicals, Cockrell School engineers find

2014-04-02

In a first-of-its-kind study, a team of environmental engineers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin found that infants are exposed to high levels of chemical emissions from crib mattresses while they sleep. Analyzing the foam padding in crib mattresses, the team found that the mattresses release significant amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), potentially harmful chemicals also found in household items such as cleaners and scented sprays. The researchers studied samples of polyurethane foam and polyester foam padding ...

Good diet boosts health but not wealth

2014-04-02

The idea that a good diet means a healthy population with lower health costs only holds true when it comes to emergency care, a study shows. Researchers from Monash University, the National Defense Medical Centre, Taiwan, and the National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan, found that although men and women aged over 65 years who ate healthily had shorter stays in hospital, they were strong users of other medical services. In fact, they tended to make greater use of outpatient services, preventive care and dental care than those who did not follow a healthy eating regime. Emeritus ...

Finnish research improves the reliability of ice friction assessment

2014-04-02

Sliding speed and ice temperature affect the surface friction of ice more than had previously been thought. The thermodynamic model developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland research scientists shows that under certain conditions ice warms and melts when an item of material slides across its surface. The ice then becomes more slippery. Conversely, the friction coefficient can rise a hundredfold when sliding speed reduces and the temperature drops. Among other potential uses, the model can be employed in developing road and runway maintenance, and tyres, footwear ...

Sport makes muscles and nerves fit

2014-04-02

Endurance sport does not only change the condition and fitness of muscles but also simultaneously improves the neuronal connections to the muscle fibers based on a muscle-induced feedback. This link has been discovered by a research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. The group was also able to induce the same effect through raising the protein concentration of PGC1α in the muscle. Their findings, which are also interesting in regard to muscle and nerve disorders such as muscle wasting and ALS, have been published in the current issue of the journal ...

Coffee consumption reduces mortality risk from liver cirrhosis

2014-04-02

New research reveals that consuming two or more cups of coffee each day reduces the risk of death from liver cirrhosis by 66%, specifically cirrhosis caused by non-viral hepatitis. Findings in Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, show that tea, fruit juice, and soft drink consumption are not linked to cirrhosis mortality risk. As with previous studies heavy alcohol use was found to increase risk of death from cirrhosis. A 2004 report from The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each ...

Tiny crystals to boost solar

2014-04-02

A new approach to studying solar panel absorber materials has been developed by researchers in France, Acta Cryst. (2014). B70, 390. The technique could accelerate the development of non-toxic and readily available alternatives to current absorbers in thin film based solar cells. The development of solar panel materials that are both non-toxic and made from readily available elements rather than rare and precious metals is a priority in developing a sustainable technology. Sulfide materials containing the relatively common metals copper, tin and zinc, so called kesterites, ...

Europium complexes emit red light at record efficiency

2014-04-02

Researchers worldwide continue search for better luminescent materials for OLED manufacturing. Two new compounds with europium complexes developed at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw display in their class record high luminescence efficiencies in red, and their properties enable faster, low cost manufacturing of thin OLED films. Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) in Warsaw developed two new materials with record high luminescence efficiency. The compounds were ...

Climate change forces flower festival forward a month since 1960s

2014-04-02

Organisers of flower festivals are being forced to adapt to increasingly early first blooming dates in spring, according to a study by a Coventry University academic which is shortly due to be published in the journal Climate Research. Professor Tim Sparks, an environmental science expert, focused on the changes made to the timing of the popular Thriplow Daffodil Weekend in Cambridgeshire since it started in 1969 and compared them to the dates of first bloom, concluding that it has been forced to bring its dates forward by 26 days over its 46 year history. The early ...

Study shows Florida's participation in ACS NSQIP resulted in statewide improvement

2014-04-02

Chicago (April 2, 2014)—A surgical collaborative of hospitals across Florida resulted in broad improvement in the state, helping most hospitals significantly improve, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®), the Florida Surgical Care Initiative (FSCI) was able to reduce complications by 14.5 percent. The study looks at a 15-month period from March 2011 to July 2012 in which it estimates that the program averted 165 complications, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Terrestrial biodiversity grows with tree cover in agricultural landscapes

Experts call for AED placement on every commercial aircraft to boost in-flight cardiac arrest survival rates from 6% to up to 70%

“Proton‑iodine” regulation of protonated polyaniline catalyst for high‑performance electrolytic Zn‑I2 batteries

Directional three‑dimensional macroporous carbon foams decorated with WC1−x nanoparticles derived from salting‑out protein assemblies for highly effective electromagnetic absorption