Posted on 11/03/2023 2:55:21 AM PDT by dennisw
A gene from Denisovans makes people predisposed to mental health issues The gene was passed down to humans about 60,000 years ago in Asia
Humans having sex with a now-extinct subspecies they met in Asia some 60,000 years ago could be the reason you have depression, a new study has claimed.
Researchers discovered a gene variant linked to the crossbreeding of humans and Denisovans which they believe affects our mood.
Those with the variant have lower levels of zinc in the body - a nutrient which studies increasingly show is associated with mood and happiness.
Scientists said SLC30A9 is the most widespread Denisovan gene discovered to date - starting in Asia and has spread to European and Native American populations.
Only recently with the advances in genomic sequencing has it been possible for scientists to trace modern human's DNA back to our ancient ancestors.
The different branches of the human family tree have interbred and swapped genes — a processes known as 'introgression' — on numerous occasions.
Elena Bosch, IBE principal investigator and co-leader of the study, and her team identified an adaptive variant among current human populations in a region of our genome that bears remarkable similarity to the genome of an extinct ancestral population: the Denisovans.
'We discovered that this mutation surely had implications for the transport of zinc within the cell,' said Bosch.
Researchers did look into Neanderthal heritage but found the population was absent of the mutation.
Rubén Vicente, MELIS-UPF principal investigator, then joined the team to analyze intracellular zinc's movement.
'Elena contacted me because her team had observed a change in an amino acid in a zinc transporter, which was very different between the populations of Africa and Asia today, Vicente said.
'From there, we started asking ourselves questions and looking for answers.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
If sex was had and fertile kids sprang from it, it wasn’t a different species, was it?
Could this explain the Russian paranoia some feel?
OK, enough already.... I admit it. There was a lot of drinking going on, and being from out of town I was lonely. Next thing you know I’m waking up with a prehistoric girl with bad DNA.
Saw each other a few times after
But we never got it right
We weren’t lovers just brave strangers....
Everyone is a victim.
Lookin' better with every beer.
Nephilim?
“Those Denisovian chicks are crazy hot!” Historically bad dating advice.
“Those with the variant have lower levels of zinc in the body”
Interesting. Like most Aspies, I suffer from Depression but have been taking Zinc for decades and rarely have bouts.
Hey, Saturday night, consenting Hominids, it’s all good.
And we’re not extinct, are we...
Not yet, anyway...
And it's probably taxpayer money that is paying them.
IIRC Blacks and Asians have some Denisovan genes. Whites have Neanderthal genes, so these questionable results do not apply to Honkeys.
What I’d like to know is why we can’t make vit C like so many others do.
It’d be convenient.
It’s Darwinian
Survival of the fittest. The Denisovan’s were unfit hybrids
They were the same species. :-)
Speciation always includes hybrids and fringe subspecies
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