Northern Europeans are more prone to multiple sclerosis than other ancestries and now a study of ancient DNA hints at why
Why northern Europeans are more likely than people of other ancestries to have multiple sclerosis can be explained by ancient DNA: It is a genetic remnant of the 5,000-year-old horse-riding livestock herders that swept over the area.
The results are the result of a massive effort that compared DNA from present-day humans with that from the teeth and bones of ancient humans. This allowed scientists to trace genes associated with disease and migration throughout history. Researchers discovered on Wednesday that the Yamnaya, a Bronze Age ethnic group, carried gene variations known to raise a person’s risk of multiple sclerosis when they migrated from the steppes of what is now Ukraine and Russia into northwest Europe.
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DNA
Yet the Yamnaya flourished, widely spreading those variants. Those genes probably also protected the nomadic herders from infections carried by their cattle and sheep, according to the research published in the journal Nature. “What we found surprised everyone,” said study co-author William Barrie, a genetics researcher at the University of Cambridge. “These variants were giving these people an advantage of some kind.”
DNA
Eske Willerslev of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen, who helped pioneer the study of ancient DNA, is the project leader of this unique gene bank, which has hundreds of samples from early people in Europe and western Asia. Comparable studies have been conducted to identify Neanderthals, one of the ancestors of modern humans. Exploring MS with the new gene bank seemed like a good first step. This is due to the fact that, although MS can affect any group, it most frequently affects white people who are descended from northern Europeans, and scientists are at a loss as to why.
The condition, which has the potential to be fatal, develops when immune system cells unintentionally target nerve fibers’ protective sheath, eventually weakening them. Some people experience tingling and numbness, while others have impaired walking and vision loss—things that often wax and wane. The exact cause of MS is unknown; however, a popular belief holds that specific infections may set it off in genetically predisposed individuals. It has been discovered that there are over 230 genetic variations that can raise a person’s risk. Using DNA from over 1,600 ancient Eurasians, the researchers initially charted some significant demographic changes in northern Europe. Hunter-gatherers were first replaced by Middle Eastern farmers, and then, some 5,000 years ago, the Yamnaya started to move in, herding sheep and cattle while commuting on horses and wagons. The research team compared the ancient DNA to about 400,000 present-day people stored in a UK gene bank to see if the MS-linked genetic variations persist in the north, in the direction the Yamnaya moved, rather than in southern Europe.
In what is now Denmark, the Yamnaya rapidly replaced ancient farmers, making them the closest ancestors of modern Danes, Willerslev said. MS rates are particularly high in Scandinavian countries. Why would gene variants presumed to have strengthened ancient immunity later play a role in an autoimmune disease? Differences in how modern humans are exposed to animal germs may play a role in knocking the immune system out of balance, said study co-author Dr. Astrid Iversen of Oxford University. The findings finally offer an explanation for the north-south MS divide in Europe but more work is needed to confirm the link, cautioned genetic expert Samira Asgari of New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved with the research, in an accompanying commentary.
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