Did viruses play a role in the experimental extinction of Neanderthals ? That ’s what researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo have been trying to reckon out , and in doing so , cease up uncovering the oldest cognise human viruses in a bent of Neanderthal clappers from over 50,000 years ago .
To make this finding , the squad comb out through the cutting DNA sequencing information of two set of Neanderthal remains recuperate fromChagyrskaya cavein Russia . Within those raw sequences , they were looking for the remnants of the genome – the entirety of an organism ’s genic information – of three case of DNA viruses : adenovirus , herpesvirus , and papillomavirus .
And they found them – remnants of all three groups , in fact . This micturate the computer virus the oldest human viruses ever discover , take the title away from those found in31,600 - class - oldHomo sapiensremains .
This , the source intimate in a preprint that ’s yet to be equal - review , demonstrated that not only was it feasible to identify bits of viral genome in archaeological samples , but that Neanderthals could ’ve been afflicted with the same viruses that affect humans today .
Adenoviruses , for example , can cause a all-encompassing stove of malady from the pain in the fundament that is the common frigidity , to a filthy turn of piercing gastroenteritis . The overwhelmingly prevalentEpstein - Barr virusthat can trigger glandular fever and multiple sclerosis belongs to the herpesviruses . Papillomavirusesare perhaps best known for their connexion with cervical cancer .
It ’s a hypothesis that Neanderthals may have been more susceptible to these three viruses and their issue .
There ’s one restriction that palaeogeneticists must consider , though – contamination . What might front like a groundbreaking discovery could actually be the issue of someone forgetting to cover their mouth when they cough , or an inquisitive ( or athirst ) animal .
Since they compared the ancient computer virus sequences with mod computer virus sequences to check for similarity and difference , this was most likely avoided .
“ direct together , our data indicate that these viruses might represent virus that really infect Neanderthals , ” sketch author Marcelo Briones toldNew Scientist .
That ’s not to say that virus alone may have get theextinction of the Neanderthals , something the authors make clear in the paper , but it does at least sum up some weight to the theory of some scientist that viruses may have played some sort of function .
“ To support their provocative and interesting hypothesis , it would be necessary to prove that at least the genome of these virus can be constitute in Neanderthal continue , ” said Briones . “ That is what we did . ”
The study is usable as a preprint onbioRxiv .
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
