Do you wake up early in the morning? You may have inherited Neanderthal genes – Corriere.it

Do you wake up easily early in the morning? They may have inherited the Neanderthal genes, which they had Morning habits. Study published in Genome biology and evolution She found that Neanderthal DNA has survived in some modern humans and can determine whether a person is a naturally early riser.

Although the human biological clock is a complex trait shaped by social and cultural norms, as well as of course genetics, Neanderthals, who evolved in the cold regions of Europe and Asia where they lived for hundreds of thousands of years, may have been better adapted to seasonal variations in daylight than Homo sapiens, which evolved at latitudes closer to the equator in Africa, where there is less variation in daylight hours.

Adaptation to changes in the amount of daylight likely passed on to early Homo sapiens as they moved north from Africa, where they met, interbred, and sometimes interbred with Neanderthals, who became extinct about 40,000 years ago.Oh my goatA geneticist and epidemiologist at the University of California, US, is among the authors of the work. While most of the genes that modern humans acquired through ancient hybridization have been eliminated through the evolutionary process, a small portion remains. In particular, these genes would have helped early modern humans achieveAdapting to new environments When they left Africa and Eurasia. The genes of Neanderthals, who lived in the coldest regions of the world, regulated our biological clock, says Capra’s thesis.

About 70,000 years ago, groups of Homo sapiens migrated from Africa into Eurasia, all the way to Siberia and Great Britain, where Neanderthals had already adapted to cold climates since they occupied the lands hundreds of thousands of years ago. Thanks to interbreeding between groups, humans living today carry up to 4% Neanderthal DNA, including genes associated with skin and hair pigmentation, fat and the immune system (Neanderthal DNA has played a role in influencing the course of Covid-19). Epidemic)

The study compared the DNA of living humans with genetic material extracted from Neanderthal fossils, and found that Neanderthals carried some The same genetic variants associated with the circadian clock of morning people. To study circadian rhythms in Neanderthals, Dr. Capra and his colleagues examined 246 genes that help control the circadian clock. They made a comparison Copies of extinct hominin genes with those of modern humans Find out more A thousand mutations Which was unique only to living humans or Neanderthals. With the analysis of data from the British Biobank, which contains the genomes of half a million volunteers. It was observed that almost all of the ancient circadian variants intercepted in volunteers increased the likelihood that these volunteers were early risers. The study is only a first step and will be essential in comparison with other biobanks.

Corriere della Sera too WhatsApp. Adequate click here To subscribe to the channel to always receive the latest news.