A lack of certain genes may lead to lower intelligence, and a higher incidence of learning difficulties, in black people

Africans lack Neanderthal genes. https://webbs.substack.com/p/a-lack-of-certain-genes-may-lead

Analysis of DNA has revealed that it is possible to predict accurately, simply by examining genes, the risk factors for developing schizophrenia and discover that these are far higher for those of black African heritage than for white Europeans or Americans. Many other real differences between ethnic groups have also been found. There is for instance, evidence of a similar trend with Alzheimer’s disease (Barnes & Bennett, 2014). Perhaps of the greatest significance is the realisation that our own species, Homo sapiens, certainly did mate with Neanderthals and that as a result, everybody other than sub-Saharan Africans has Neanderthal genes. This has proved to be a controversial revelation and the full implications are still becoming apparent. Some of the genes which are now being identified relate to the architecture of the brain and of course an old claim of what one might perhaps call traditional scientific racism is that the brains of black people are usually smaller than, or different from, those of white people or Asians. Already, there have been skirmishes on this particular frontier of research.

One particular gene which 70 % of Europeans and Asians have is a variation of microcephalin. This protects against the disorder of microcephaly and is connected with the growth and architecture of the brain. Babies with microcephaly are born with heads much smaller than average. The outlook for such children in terms of life expectancy and intellectual ability is poor. The commonest cause of microcephaly is genetic disorders.

Another gene which helps the brain develop is a version of the ASPM gene. This is found in just a quarter of the world’s population. In 2005 a researcher at the University of Chicago called Bruce Lahn found that these two variants of the genes had only been around in our own species for 40,000 years and 6,000 years respectively (4). A paper published that year claimed that this was evidence of the continued evolution of humans, as it was asserted that the gene had spread so quickly that it must confer some positive advantage to those inheriting it (5). This simple discovery soon exploded into a raging controversy, with those connected with the research or even writing about being accused of racism (4).