“Some of the more successful Neanderthal genes have become especially widespread, such as those affecting immunity. Some Europeans and many South Asians, for example, inherited a gene that causes a much stronger immune reaction to a COVID-19 virus infection. Carriers of the Neanderthal gene are three times more likely to die from this newly emerged virus.”

“Some of the more successful Neanderthal genes have become especially widespread, such as those affecting immunity. Some Europeans and many South Asians, for example, inherited a gene that causes a much stronger immune reaction to a COVID-19 virus infection. Carriers of the Neanderthal gene are three times more likely to die from this newly emerged virus.”

— Johannes Krause