Missing Neanderthal Y Chromosome Mystery

Modern humans carry about 2.5 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA, but no known Neanderthal Y-chromosome genes have survived. One hypothesis suggests that when modern human women conceived male fetuses carrying Neanderthal H-Y antigens, their immune systems may have recognized those proteins as foreign and ended the pregnancies. If that happened repeatedly over many generations, Neanderthal Y chromosomes could have disappeared even while other Neanderthal DNA remained in the human gene pool.

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