Have YOU been tested for Neanderthal genes?

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interesting theory ._. but if we are part neanderthal wouldn't we have some of the physical traits as well?

I wouldn't characterize it as a theory at all. For it to be a theory, the available evidence would need to support the notion. It doesn't.

It sure does.

Can you provide any citations to peer-reviewed papers appearing in legitimate research journals to support the conjecture?

I think you misunderstood. Unless you live in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost everyone around you carries Neandertal DNA. Also, Neandertals are not aliens or monsters. Check wikipedia, Neandertals had a form of language, they lived in social groups, they hunted together, and they even had slightly larger brains than we do.

We are part Neanderthal, that has already been proven. The latest kertuffle were over if the genes came from the earlier split between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens OR from interbreeding - and interbreeding won. There are plenty of links in this thread already to actual peer-reviewed papers. (or the magazine version of actually peer-reviewed papers but I'm sure you can search your way to them with the authors names and everything)

Or are you talking about the hypothesis that aspies/auties have MORE neanderthal genes than average? Because that one is still unproven. But we are part Neanderthal anyway

I was referring to the crazy notion that Neanderthal genes and Autism are related.

The theory is garbage. Paabo is a quack, in terms of statistics. This video disproves it in 10 seconds. There were no Neanderthals in South Africa and there are Native South Africans (probably Zulu) who have autism. Done.

I am annoyed at giving what is effectively a dissertation on how there is almost certainly no Neanderthal DNA in humans (although I think they interbred on rare occasion). Just watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3169DOJSZvs

Umlauts: use them. You have not even read the papers: Pääbo is not mentioning autism. It does not matter if you disagree with this subject as long as you have not done any study to disprove it. You do know there are white south africans too?

Via 23andme, ~2.8% of my genes are Neanderthal, which puts me in the 80th percentile among users of my ethnicity. My mom, whose side of the family is probably where the AS comes from, has 2.9%, a small difference that nevertheless puts her in the 93rd percentile.

If Neanderthal genes are the source of Autism, then just how many of the Neanderthals do you think were Autistic?

In a harsh and primitive environment, I don't see being Autistic as conferring any advantages on survival. One would have to be able to become productive members of his family/clan at quite an early age. Any developmental disability that would result in taking longer than necessary to become productive could potentially put the entire family/clan at risk. "Autistic genes" would hardly confer reproductive advantages.

anybody else find it rather interesting that homo sapiens and neanderthal were able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring with such apparent regularity when things as genetically similar as horses and donkeys can interbreed and produce almost exclusively sterile offspring?

Just to explain (not really a partisan of the neanderthal theory of autism).

The idea is that neanderthals had smaller tribes, and were less into forming complex alllinaces and networks of trade and reciprocity. This being due to their less evolved social instincts. So, in a sense, ALL neanderthals were 'autisitic' by modern standards. So we who are on the autistic spectrum inherited some of these neanderthal traits.

Though they were smart one-on-one (as smart as us) they could not pool their efforts (nor their knowledge) as well we can.

But-again- Im not really a partisan of theory. Its whacky-but-interesting curiiosity.

Now that Im thinking about it- it IS hard to imagine how neanderthals could have survived long in the ice age wilderness of europe if they all had been full blown low funcitoning autistics.

Last edited by naturalplastic on 11 Jan 2013, 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

To a zoologist from Mars humans would be classed as a "sibling species" ( like one kind of frog vs another kind of frog) with other African apes (like chimps and gorillas).

So the human equivalent of a "mule" would likely be a 'humanzee" ( a human-chimp hybrid).

Neanderthals were much closer to modern humans than chimpanzees. So it is not surprising that us interbreeding with them would result in fertile offspring.

Like I said, it's just an idea. Some posters in here actually seem offended at the thought, but if you read up on what the current theories are about Neanderthal behavior, etc., it's not an insult at all. They are supposed to have been musical, thoughtful and creative, as well as fierce.

Oddly, I've often laughed at hunters and wondered why they don't just jump on the animal and stab it. My natural instinct is just that. Might be unrelated, but - it's awfully funny that I've always considered killing game that way - and that's exactly what they think Neanderthal did.

As I understand it, the notion that we have Neanderthal DNA is not at all universally accepted by the scientific community.

The notion that autism is due to genes that originated with the Neanderthals isn't offensive, but it is preposterous and scientifically absurd. The idea might have a bit of merit if Autism was rare or nonexistent among people of races that have no genes passed down from Neanderthals, but that isn't the case at all.

Anyone who wants to claim that Autism is due to Neanderthal genes must account for all cases of Autism in people of races who do not have those genes and show that they do. And they need to explain why there are people with those genes who are not Autistic.

Furthermore, forget "traits". Those are nothing but indirection. Autism and Asperger's are the results of the neurons and their connectivity in the brain.

If you want to give substance to the hypothesis, what you really need to do is to identify the "Neanderthal" genes, show that they really did come from the Neanderthals, and identify the specific actions of each gene in the developing embryo. If you find that the action of the proteins encoded by the genes leads to a pattern of neuronal development consistent with Autism and Asperger's, then you have a case.