The same genes that cause multiple sclerosis may have protected nomadic herders from catching infections from their animals thousands of years ago
By Clare Wilson
10 January 2024
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition that occurs when the immune system starts attacking nerves
KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The largest genetic database of ancient humans yet is shedding new light on some modern medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as why there is variation among people when it comes to other heritable traits, such as height.
One of the findings is that the genes behind MS may have become more common because they helped people resist infections passed on from animals.
Other findings include explanations for why Alzheimer’s disease is more common in some groups than others and why people from northern Europe tend to be taller than those from the south of the continent.
Advertisement
Read more
Mutation behind Huntington's linked to higher childhood intelligence
“Things going on thousands of years ago can have really profound effects on the health and longevity of people living in the present,” says Evan Irving-Pease at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
The genes of people with ancestry from Europe and west Asia have been shaped by three large waves of migration. Modern humans living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle first arrived in these regions about 45,000 years ago. There was then a wave of farmers from the Middle East about 11,000 years ago, followed by a further influx of livestock herders from the Eurasian steppe, now called the Yamnaya people.