A portion, also known as region, of Neanderthal DNA related to sunlight adaption was selected and enriched in East Asians, a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution found.
The researchers identified evidence of the accumulation of a Neanderthal DNA region on chromosome 3 containing 18 genes, several of which are related to UV-light adaptation – including the Hyal2 gene.
In all, the genomic region was found in some 49 percent of of Japanese and 66 percent of those in Southern Chinese.
The geographic range of the Neanderthal genomic region indicates that UV-light mutations were lost when modern humans first left Africa roughly 80,000 years ago, and later reintroduced by Neanderthals to Eurasians, the researchers said.
Read the full, original story: Portion of Neanderthal Genome Linked to Sunlight Adaption Discovered in Japan, South China
