See what happens when you have sex with a Neanderthal?!
The Neanderthals gave our ancestors their genetic material, and possibly, a sexually transmitted disease!
Spanish, French, and Brazilian scientists studied 118 sequences of the human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 strain in order to create a genetic timeline of the virusThe smallest type of organism known. A single virus particle (called a virion) is much smaller than a cell. Viruses reproduce by invading cells and forcing the cells to make progeny virions. Viruses generally have specific host cells which they infect. Some virus types are associated with specific cancers and can convert normal cells into cancer cells. Examples of viruses associated with cancer are: papillomavirus-cervical cancer, hepatitis virus-liver cancer, Epstein-Barr virus-Burkitt's lymphoma. Virus-induced transformation of cells was one of the very first model systems for the study of cancer. Viruses have also been a key tool in the identification of many oncogenes. Because of their great ability to enter target cells viruses such as adenoviruses are being examined for their ability to deliver genes to cancer cells.. It appears to show that the disease was transmitted from the Neanderthals or the Denisovans, another extinct human ancestor, to humans.
The strain is extremely rare among Sub-Saharan Africans. This means that humans who left Africa more than 100,000 years ago may have contracted the disease elsewhere in the world.
The scientists believe that the human HPV16 strain, which infects 4 percent of Americans, and can lead to cervical cancer, is about 500,00 years old and may have originated in the Neanderthals or the Denisovans!
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