Imagine 50,000-year-old ancient viruses returning to haunt us, the modern humans. This could soon become a reality as scientists strive to reproduce viruses that afflicted our Neanderthal predecessors.
The principal author of the study, Marcelo Briones, stated that they intend to try to synthesize the “Jurassic Park-like viruses” to see how they compare to modern ones.
They discovered the ancient viruses in the approximately 50,000-year-old bones of two male Neanderthals discovered in a cave in Russia’s Altai Mountains.
According to sources, the ancient viruses discovered were remnants of herpesvirus (which causes cold sores), sexually transmitted HPV, and adenovirus.
The findings show that herpesviruses may have played an important role in the extinction of Neanderthals
The discovery was made at the Chagyrskaya cave, where nine similar Neanderthal remains were discovered in 2022. This gathering includes a daughter, her father, and several relatives.
Their DNA has provided information on their genetic makeup and potential causes of extinction. Experts have long speculated that viruses may have caused the extinction of Neanderthals.
Talking to NewScientist, lead author Briones said that he was “skeptical that this (the recreation) could be achieved given the lack of full understanding of how the viruses’ DNA is damaged and how to reconstruct the recovered pieces into a full viral genome.”
“Also, the host-virus interaction, especially in a completely different environment, is something to consider,” he added.
The findings show that herpesviruses may have played an important role in the extinction of Neanderthals, and more research is needed to corroborate this idea.
“Herpesviruses, in particular, might have been a major cause for Neanderthal extinction,” said scientists.
The presence of these viruses in Neanderthal DNA, free from contamination by animals or modern humans, supports the idea that “these viruses might represent viruses that really infected Neanderthals.”
This research could potentially shed more light on the factors that contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago.