Fire Usage and Ancient Hominin Detoxification Genes: Protective Ancestral Variants Dominate While Additional Derived

Jac M M J G Aarts1,2, Gerrit M Alink1,3, Fulco Scherjon1

  • 1Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Plos One
|September 23, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Ancient hominins, including Neanderthals and Denisovans, possessed genetic resistance to toxic compounds, unlike modern humans who show more recent evolution of less efficient detoxification genes.

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