Uncovering the Ancient Origins of Obesity: Neanderthals' Surprising "Fat Factories" 125,000 Years Ago

Spoiler: This isn’t a history lesson — it’s a hands-on bioinformatics adventure. We’re going to use real genetic data to explore how Neanderthal DNA might influence modern human metabolism, including fat storage. You’ll learn to analyze ancient DNA, compare genomes, and identify obesity-linked variants — all in Python.

Let’s dig into the science behind the headlines.

🧬 Why This Matters

Recent studies (like those from the Max Planck Institute) show that some modern humans carry Neanderthal gene variants linked to increased fat storage. These “thrifty genes” helped Neanderthals survive Ice Age winters — but today, they may contribute to obesity.

We’ll use public genomic datasets to:

Download Neanderthal and modern human genomes

Identify key SNPs (genetic variants)

Cross-reference with known obesity-related genes

Visualize the results

No prior genomics experience?…