Neanderthal genetics and controlled cell culture

What a Neanderthal variant of the growth hormone receptor has to do with cell culture, and why stable conditions at 37 °C and 5% CO₂ are decisive.

What Neanderthal genetics has to do with controlled cell culture

A 47,000-year-old genetic legacy studied under defined laboratory conditions

Traces of the Neanderthals can still be found in the genomes of many people today. A study published in Current Biology in 2026 took a closer look at one of them: a variant of the growth hormone receptor inherited from Neanderthals.

The researchers found that cells carrying this variant responded more strongly to growth hormone than cells with the receptor form that is more common in modern humans. The Max Planck Society reports around 40 percent stronger cell growth. The researchers also found that present-day carriers of the variant have slightly more muscle mass on average.

Why controlled conditions are crucial

According to the published methods, the cultures for the cell experiments were kept at 37 °C and 5% CO₂. The cell lines used were also routinely tested for mycoplasma.
At first glance, details like these look purely technical. Yet they are crucial to how meaningful the experiment is. When different cell variants are compared with each other, external influences should remain as constant as possible. Fluctuations in temperature or CO₂ can affect how cells behave and make the results harder to interpret.

The CO₂ incubator provides the controlled environment in which biological differences can be studied reproducibly.

Replica of a Neanderthal skull from Le Moustier (Photo: Zde / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.)

Stable cell culture is part of the experimental design

In many mammalian cell cultures, the CO₂ concentration helps keep the culture medium at the required pH. At the same time, the temperature has to be controlled reliably. Protection against contamination also plays a key role, especially in longer-running or comparative experiments.

BINDER CO₂ incubators are designed for exactly these requirements. They support stable temperature and CO₂ conditions and, depending on the model, offer features such as 180 °C hot-air sterilization, infrared CO₂ sensor technology and an easy-to-clean stainless-steel interior.

The study thus also highlights an often less visible side of modern research: meaningful biological results require an environment in which the experimental conditions remain as constant as possible.

Source of the research presented:

Kanis, P. et al. (2026): Increased signaling of the Neanderthal growth hormone receptor. Current Biology.

Editorial note:
BINDER was not involved in the research described. The publication does not mention the use of any BINDER equipment. This article looks at the study from the perspective of controlled cell culture conditions.