New research has revealed that an extinct group of ancient humans called Denisovans passed down a crucial genetic inheritance that continues to benefit Indigenous American populations today. The study, published in Science, demonstrates how a specific gene variant acquired through ancient interbreeding provided survival advantages to the first peoples of the Americas and remains prevalent in modern populations with Native American ancestry.
The discovery centers on a gene known as MUC19, which plays a vital role in producing proteins that form protective barriers in the respiratory and digestive systems. This Denisovan-derived variant appears to have been under strong natural selection, meaning it provided significant survival benefits to those who carried it during the challenging migration into the Americas thousands of years ago.
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