Many of us carry Neanderthal genes, thanks to interbreeding 60,000 years ago and it could have an important impact on the way we absorb medicines, a new study has shown.

For a drug to be effective and not harmful it needs to be administered at the right dosage, but people with Neanderthal genes eliminate drugs such as the blood-thinner warfarin differently.

The gene variants could mean that a drug dose that would normally be effective is actually toxic instead, the researchers warn.

The gene variants are carried by 20% of present-day Europeans.

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Neanderthals were a group of ancient humans that populated Europe and Asia before the arrival of modern humans.

When modern humans and Neanderthals met, they mixed – so people with roots outside Africa tend to carry one to two percent of their genome from Neanderthals.

Read more: yahoo