Study Reveals Absence of Neanderthal DNA on Y Chromosome of Modern Humans
Experts of human evolution and anthropology have long agreed that modern humans have traces of Neanderthal DNA, but there exists no concrete evidence that will support the notion that some of us are a result of human-Neanderthal interbreeding. But an interesting twist revealed by a recent study headed by the Stanford University School of Medicine is suggesting that the Y-chromosome genes of Neanderthals may have been scraped off the human genome sometime in history.
The Y chromosome is the other half of two human sex chromosomes; it is the one that is passed from the father to the son. The study, according to Science Daily, is the first in history to focus on examining the Y chromosome of a Neanderthal since the previous studies were exclusively on sequencing DNA coming from Neanderthal women, while others used mitochondrial DNA that is inherited by the children, regardless of gender, from the mother.
Possible Explanation
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There really is no consensus answer as to why there's no more Neanderthal DNA. But the most possible reason is that it simply may have disappeared from the human gene pool after hundreds of years of evolution. The proponents of the research also think that the Y chromosomes may have contained genes that were highly incompatible with other human genes.
With the results of the new research, there now is a clearer timeline in figuring out the separation of Neanderthals and humans. There is a consensus belief that the modern human's lineage separated from the apes millions of years ago and may have successfully ended about four millions years ago. When humans split from their ape ancestors, the lineage eventually broke up to different human species, including a separate lineage for Neanderthals.
Previous studies theorized that the divergence of humans and Neanderthal lineages may have taken place between half a million years and 800,000 years back.
