Report an inappropriate comment Foxxification Of This Story? Wed
Aug 15 01:50:10 BST 2012 by Julian Mann If you would care to
take a look at the NS article 21.1.2009. by Graham
Lawton(amongst others) an opinion is expressed there that 40 to
50 per cent of the human genome got there by HGT. Therefore the
chances are actually quite high that Neanderthals and humans
living in close proximity, could have picked up the same genes
from an external source via an intermediary, without there
having been any cross-breeding at all. With regard to the
geographically separated humans, one would have expected
vertical gene transfer to have passed on these Neanderthal genes
over an extended period of time, via human/human mating. As that
has not happened, particularly after the Neanderthal die out,you
would need to re-consider the relative importance of VGT in this
process. Perhaps HGT was after all the bigger player and
accounts for all of the common genes.