The next time you having a sneezing fit because of your allergies, you might wanna thank your ancestors for that. Scientists are claiming that sexual relationships between homo sapiens and Neanderthals 40,000 years ago have led to modern allergies like asthma and hay fever.
Don’t worry, it’s not all humans—just the descendants of those who migrated from Africa. According to i100, 23andme—a genetics company based in the U.S.—says that a group of humans left the continent and began hooking up with Neanderthals and Denisovans who had more than 200,000 years’ time to adapt to the different viruses and diseases in Euroasia.
Thanks to that prehistoric interbreeding, today’s humans carry 1-6% of Neanderthal DNA, the Guardianreports. Modern humans possess the three genes from those Neanderthals that boost the immune system but result in a number of allergies like sneezing and itching.
Super.
