Sexual intercourse with a Neanderthal made people vulnerable to coronavirus

A single Neanderthal may be responsible for passing on the gene that made humans vulnerable

before the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Discuss

Scientists have studied the effect of genetic differences onlight and resistant to infection. The researchers said that some people have a genetic trait that they inherited due to a "romantic connection" between a Neanderthal and a member of our species. If this intercourse had not taken place 60,000 years ago, perhaps many lives would have been saved.

The genetic variation that we now havesome people, is associated with the LZTFL1 gene. It is thought to be associated with lung cells. Such cells produce more of a certain protein on the surface, which the coronavirus can cling to. The genetic feature is more common in people of South Asian descent.