Our ancestors probably didn’t smell good, but did they? goodA new study grew olfactory receptors from Neanderthals and Denisovans and tested their sensitivity to different odors compared to modern humans.?
For hundreds of thousands of years, Homo sapiens have shared the world with other ancient humans. While Neanderthals lived in Europe and parts of Asia, Denisovans lived across Russia and into Southeast Asia, occasionally intermingling and interbreeding with each other and with modern humans.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about how these ancient species lived, but the clues may lie in their genes. In a new study, researchers at the Universities of Paris-Saclay and Duke grew Neanderthal and Denisovan odorant receptors in laboratory dishes, exposed them to different odors, and compared their sensitivity to ours. I measured.
The team began by examining databases of genomes of various species, including one collected by last year’s Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo. We then compared specific odorant receptor genes to those of modern humans to see how different each was. For this reason, we grew 30 odorant receptors from each hominid, exposed them to different odors, and measured their responses.
The team found that the receptors detected nearly the same odors across the board, but that their sensitivities to different odors differed greatly. was. Neanderthal-specific receptors were less sensitive to spicy, sweet, minty, and floral odors than modern humans.
Denisovans, on the other hand, differed more widely in their olfactory responses. They were less sensitive to floral scents, but they were four times better than us at picking up “sulfur” odors, and were more sensitive to balsamic scents (rich, sweeter scents like vanilla and chocolate). They were also three times more sensitive to the odor of honey, which the team hypothesizes may have been their favorite food given honey’s energy richness.
“I don’t know what the Denisovans ate, [are] “There are several reasons why this receptor should be sensitive,” said Hiroaki Matsunami, a co-author of the study. “Each species maximizes its fitness to find food.” So we have to evolve the olfactory receptors.In humans, it’s more complicated because we eat a lot.We’re not really professional.”
Not only will this study help us better understand ancient human genetics and behavior, but cell-based odor testers will help us study genetic variation in odor sensitivity among individuals in modern humans. says the team.
A study was published in a journal eye science.
Source: Duke University
