Europeans and Africans have different immune systems, and Neanderthals are partly to thank
Thursday, October 20, 2016 - 12:01
in Biology & Nature
It's long been clear that people from different parts of the world differ in their susceptibility to developing infections as well as chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Now, two studies reported in Cell on October 20 show that those differences in disease susceptibility can be traced in large part to differences at the genetic level directing the way the immune systems of people with European and African ancestry are put together.