How Much Neanderthal DNA do Humans Have?

Our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals, and evidence of these ancient liaisons can still be found in the DNA of people living today.

By Nathaniel Scharping
Apr 28, 2020 3:00 PMApr 30, 2020 3:00 PM
Neanderthal - Shutterstock
(Credit: IR Stone/Shutterstock)

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We all have a little Neanderthal in us. The amount varies a bit, from less than a percent to likely over 2 percent, depending on our heritage. East Asians seem to have the most Neanderthal DNA in their genomes, followed by those of European ancestry. Africans, long thought to have no Neanderthal DNA, were recently found to have genes from the hominins comprising around 0.3 percent of their genome.

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