Breeding with Neanderthals appears to have helped early humans fight disease
Friday, June 17, 2011 - 07:31
in Paleontology & Archaeology
(PhysOrg.com) -- Following up on evidence that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals mated and produced offspring, following the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome last year, Peter Parham, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford, set forth evidence in a presentation to the Royal Society in London last week that shows that humans benefitted from such encounters by having human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), added to their genomes, which in turn helped them to fight off diseases native to northern climates.