Ancient Neanderthal DNA Linked to Subtle Height and Muscle Gains in Modern Humans

Researchers traced two amino-acid changes in the Neanderthal version of the growth hormone receptor, which likely entered modern human genomes through interbreeding about 47,000 years ago. In large biobank analyses (over 1.1 million adults), carriers of this Neanderthal-derived variant are on average about 0.3 cm taller and have about 0.25 kg more muscle mass than non-carriers; the variant is common in South Asia (~20%) and East Asia (~15%), but rare in Europe and absent in sub-Saharan Africa. Laboratory tests with mouse cells showed the Neanderthal receptor promotes more cell growth, supporting a molecular pathway for the observed physical differences.