Oct 28, 2025 10:37 PM
Differences in red blood cells may have 'hastened the extinction' of our Neanderthal cousins, new study suggests
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/...y-suggests
INTRO: A fatal genetic incompatibility between Neanderthals and modern humans may have hastened the extinction of our ancient cousins, new research suggests.
Researchers found that different versions of a gene tied to red blood cell function may have caused Neanderthal-human hybrid women to miscarry their fetuses.
When Neanderthals and early modern humans met in Eurasia around 45,000 years ago, "they exchanged genes — and may also have passed on hidden reproductive risks that shaped the fate of both lineages," Patrick Eppenberger, co-head of the Evolutionary Pathophysiology and Mummy Studies Group at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine in Zurich, and colleagues wrote in a study posted to the preprint database bioRxiv Sept. 29. (It has not been peer-reviewed yet.)
The researchers focused on the PIEZO1 gene, which affects red blood cells and is found in both modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals. They discovered that the PIEZO1 gene differed between Neanderthals and modern humans.
The Neanderthal variant, which is similar to the variant found in other great apes, allowed the hemoglobin in red blood cells to cling more tightly to oxygen molecules, while the novel H. sapiens variant allowed oxygen to be passed more efficiently into surrounding tissue. Neanderthals may have maintained the original variant because it was beneficial for surviving extreme cold and periods of starvation, the researchers suggested.
But when maternal blood has abnormally high amounts of oxygen bound to hemoglobin, that means low levels of oxygen are passed on to a fetus through the placenta. This can cause hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) or restricted growth of the fetus or miscarriage.
But because of the way the PIEZO1 gene variants are inherited, the incompatibility would arise only when a hybrid Neanderthal-human mother mated with a modern-human father or with a hybrid Neanderthal-human father... (MORE - details)
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/...y-suggests
INTRO: A fatal genetic incompatibility between Neanderthals and modern humans may have hastened the extinction of our ancient cousins, new research suggests.
Researchers found that different versions of a gene tied to red blood cell function may have caused Neanderthal-human hybrid women to miscarry their fetuses.
When Neanderthals and early modern humans met in Eurasia around 45,000 years ago, "they exchanged genes — and may also have passed on hidden reproductive risks that shaped the fate of both lineages," Patrick Eppenberger, co-head of the Evolutionary Pathophysiology and Mummy Studies Group at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine in Zurich, and colleagues wrote in a study posted to the preprint database bioRxiv Sept. 29. (It has not been peer-reviewed yet.)
The researchers focused on the PIEZO1 gene, which affects red blood cells and is found in both modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals. They discovered that the PIEZO1 gene differed between Neanderthals and modern humans.
The Neanderthal variant, which is similar to the variant found in other great apes, allowed the hemoglobin in red blood cells to cling more tightly to oxygen molecules, while the novel H. sapiens variant allowed oxygen to be passed more efficiently into surrounding tissue. Neanderthals may have maintained the original variant because it was beneficial for surviving extreme cold and periods of starvation, the researchers suggested.
But when maternal blood has abnormally high amounts of oxygen bound to hemoglobin, that means low levels of oxygen are passed on to a fetus through the placenta. This can cause hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) or restricted growth of the fetus or miscarriage.
But because of the way the PIEZO1 gene variants are inherited, the incompatibility would arise only when a hybrid Neanderthal-human mother mated with a modern-human father or with a hybrid Neanderthal-human father... (MORE - details)