[riffraff]

could you expand on that? I have never heard of anything like it.

[iskander]

The highest rate of Neanderthal admixture is in East Asians, but there is also a non-trivial rate (2-6%) in most Europeans. The admixture in sub-Saharan Africans is much lower, which creates a risk of any discussion of positive Neanderthal traits pulling in much broader baggage relating to race & genetics.

[johnchristopher]

Fine, but who is eluding the discussions ? PHD in european universities ? The media ?

Is research on the subject tabooed and not encouraged ?

[scottlocklin]

What strange planet have you teleported in from? Yes, research on the subject of race is taboo in Western Civilization. Not so much in Asia.

[johnchristopher]

I come from Europe (eh).

You didn't answer: is that vetoed in public research program or is it the media or the philosophy undergrad who don't know how to deal with the subject and thus avoid it ?

[oh_sigh]

I think this is what the poster was talking about: race issues - that is, how (white) Europeans tend to have more Neanderthal DNA compared to, (black) sub-Saharan Africans. So if you show that some neanderthal gene provides some nominal increase in IQ, you'll have lots of people jumping on it as proof that whites are superior to blacks.

Of course, east asians and specifically melanesians have probably the most neanderthal DNA, maybe twice the amount of the average European, and I would love to hear a white supremacist argue for the genetic supremacy of Melanesians.

[myohan]

Correction: Melanesians have Denisovan DNA not Neanderthal DNA, people from southern Europe have higher Neanderthal DNA than anyone else...the highest (up to 4-5%) in people from Tuscany...