Scientists identify ‘big brain’ gene in humans and our ancient relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans

Source: Genetic biologist by profession chiming in since so much ignorance always comes up on this subject of Blacks and the Neanderthal.

First, remember, a larger brain does not always mean larger intelligence. There are plenty of animals that have larger brains than humans. Also, if you understand human history, you would understand Humans descend from the Cro-Magnon line of homosapiens. The Neanderthal were a completely separate evolutionary line. When I say that, this is white and black people and ALL human races descended from the Cro-Magnon line. However, we have found some trace of Neanderthal DNA, albeit very small, in the European and Asian bloodlines. There is believed to be a period of about 10,000 years when we interbred with them, albeit minimally. You see, Neanderthals were not like the Cro-Magnon, but they were Homosapians. Neanderthal have very little evidence of "tool" use, and in many cases, zero evidence of it. They are not known for their intellect. However, the Cro-Magnon digs have uncovered much more advanced thinkers. This is not all that unsurprising considering the Neanderthals eventually went extinct. And, to use the kind of racist logic but in reverse, it seems that NOT having any Neanderthal DNA, being pure Cro-Magnon, would be the way to go. There are actual "racist" but educated black people that have used the lack of Neanderthal DNA as an evidence of the genetic superiority of black people. Of course, this is flawed, but it is no different than those that try to use the presence of Neanderthal DNA as an evidence of white/asian intellectual superiority, even in the lack of evidence. It's an idea bolstered largely by personal bias.

Now, genetically, almost all Neanderthal genes have negative selection comparatively. There are exceptions of course, hence why white/Asian can trace 1-4% of their DNA to Neanderthals. Selective pressure kept some things around. Of course, what it is more likely are genes involved with climate adaptation, particularly cold weather, hence why the Neanderthals survived as long as they did in the North before going extinct. This paper shows one interesting gene as well. Considering that higher intelligence seems to have evolved through the Cro-Magnon, it is unlikely the Neanderthals contributed any genes that expanded our intelligence.

Furthermore, in regards to your comment that "blacks" do not have the neanderthal DNA. This is true for roughly 60 some % of black people. More specifically, "Sub-Saharan" black people do not have any remnants of the Neanderthal DNA, and while most black people can trace their lineage back to sub-sahara Africa, roughly a third of the Black people on this planet are not sub-saharan pure anymore, meaning plenty of them have Neanderthal DNA in them.

I'd also like to point out that White people have the least amount of representation of the Neanderthal DNA, usually in the 1-2% range, whilst Asians have more, 3-4%. This also means Pacific islanders, and Native Americans have more Neanderthal in them than white people. So, Black people statistically do poorly in IQ tests and so on comparatively, and people like to use the lack of Neanderthal DNA as a scientific proof that they are actually inferior. However, Native Americans do just as poorly, if not worse in many cases than the African American population does in these tests, yet they have a significantly higher % of the DNA. In other words, correlation does not mean causation. Is it possible that there are other factors involved that might lead to one race doing more poorly, possible social issues? Maybe I should bring up the research that found White British Males have some rare DNA of African origin that no other White people have... Or, how the Black Khosian tribes of South Africa seem to have more genetic similarity to Europeans (even though they don't look like it), than they do to other African tribes, having lived mostly in isolation. Starting to see the flaw with the Neanderthal DNA being evidence of white genetic superiority thinking yet?

Anyway, intelligence is definitely hereditary and linked to our genetics, there is no debate really in that, but do the Neanderthals contribute significantly to our IQ? It really is unlikely. Yet, people latch on to this and believe this to be true so easily. There is a reason why, predisposition to certain personal biases and it works as a remarkable justification. However, the biggest piece of evidence of them all is this thing we call "brilliance." Brilliance is something we evolved as humans that is absolutely related to our intelligence and our IQs. There are some true geniuses out there, brilliant people, that come from African heritage with zero Neanderthal DNA. Brilliance is something so complex and evolved for the betterment of mankind, that would have so much selective pressure in favor of it, that it is just not a reality to be somehow linked to the Neanderthal DNA, considering the existence of many brilliant African minds as well.

Research is good, and unfortunately a lot of people are afraid to touch this area of genetics due to political implications, however too often there are those that foolishly jump on the "White people have Neanderthal DNA and Black people don't, that must be it, proof we are different!!!" It's really misinformed and has a foundation in racist pre-dispositions. It's not really new honestly. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the idea of evolution was gaining traction, that there were many atheist scientists that justified their racism by saying that African people were evolved in a different line that was closer to the Ape, compared to white people. Now, we know this is completely false, thanks to the discovery of DNA and our ability to sequence and trace lineage and similarity. It's just unfortunate people latch on to these false ideas so fast because it satisfies their upbringing and biases.

/r/science Thread Link - sci-news.com