A fine question, I hope you’ll agree!
Around about this time yesterday, Kate Szell and Richard Stephens were announced as the winners of the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2014. Their articles are due to be published in the Guardian fairly soon.
I also entered the competition (obviously well before I got my new job!) but didn’t make the shortlist. Hardly a surprise, given that my effort consisted of mulling over ideas for weeks, settling on something, finishing my research and then writing it in the last few hours before the deadline. And then the application website failed when I tried to submit at 23:59!
So now I have been given permission to share my piece with you – have a read, if you’re interested…
In Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’, we were informed that the Romans had given the people of Judea everything from wine to public order. However, our ancient relatives were far from generous to our distant cousins.
Apart from the interbreeding. In her 2009 series ‘The Incredible Human Journey’, Professor Alice Roberts described Neanderthals as “a bit ugly” and also said, “I don’t think it would have even crossed my mind to fancy, or perhaps mate with, a Neanderthal”. Since then, scientists have proven that there was interbreeding between Early Modern Humans and Neanderthals – this research was made possible by continuing developments in DNA extraction and sequencing technologies. Once the Neanderthal genome was sequenced, it was possible to make comparisons with our own genome. Research into this area found that Neanderthal genes have been inherited and are scattered across the human genome.
One significant find is an area of shared genes involved in lipid catabolism – an important metabolic process that converts fats into usable energy currency.
There is also proof that variant genes provided by Neanderthal parents have had an effect on human brains. This has altered how much specific metabolic enzymes are expressed in the brain, as well as the concentration of lipids in the same organ.
One the face of it, this doesn’t sound particularly unsettling. Metabolic enzymes must be good for the brain, right? Well, not necessarily.
Different studies into Neanderthal and human genomes have found that recent evolutionary changes in human brains are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and schizophrenia. Not a lot is currently known about the causes of any of these diseases, however there are some possible leads to follow.
One hypothesis for the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is that if tau proteins become hyperphosphorylated they form so-called ‘neurofibrillary tangles’ within neurons, which ultimately leads to the disintegration of neural communication. If some of the increased expression of metabolic enzymes is in kinases (enzymes which add phosphate groups to proteins), this could provide support for the tau hypothesis and a basis for further research.
It has been suggested that autism can be induced by environmental factors (both before and after birth), but it also has mooted genetic and epigenetic causes. One strong contender for a causal gene, found in a 2005 study by Philippi et al., is one which encodes PRKCB1 – a protein kinase that could be important in the regulation of the neuronal system. This discovery still needs to be replicated, but is an encouraging finding nonetheless.
Many potential causes of schizophrenia have been suggested, and tested, over the years: from genetic to prenatal, infection to substance abuse. There are many genes that have been marked as candidates in causing the disease, however much more research will be need to be undertaken to find anything close to a definitive answer. Perhaps our old friend the protein kinase could be involved somewhere?
So apart from the interbreeding that may have induced catastrophic redevelopments into our brains, what have the Neanderthals ever done for us?
Actually, by interbreeding with our ancient human ancestors, Neanderthals may well have put themselves out of the game entirely. New research has found that our late relatives were not as stupid as has previously been assumed. So rather than weaponry, language, culture, social networking, hunting ability or environmental factors being the cause of their downfall, it appears the Neanderthals were victims of their own prehistoric lust for Anatomically Modern Humans. Now there’s a thought!
So. Apart from interbreeding, the brain restructuring and voluntary redundancy, what have the Neanderthals ever done for us?
Well if research continues apace, their genome may provide some help in fighting the degenerative diseases they may have ‘passed on’ to us. It’s what they would’ve wanted.
deblogscience 