A large-scale paleogenomic study conducted by an international team of geneticists has identified a unique evolutionary adaptation in 6,200-year-old remains recovered from the Godavari-Krishna Interfluve region of South India. The research, published in Nature Genetics & Evolution, pinpointed specific mutations in the OAS1 gene cluster that provided enhanced resistance to early mosquito-borne arboviruses, a critical survival trait in the humid, low-lying wetlands of the Neolithic period.
This genetic signature represents one of the oldest known examples of human adaptation to regional pathogen pressures in the Indian subcontinent. The findings suggest that as early agriculturalists expanded into riverine environments, they faced intense selective pressure from insect-borne diseases, leading to a rapid genetic divergence in local populations. The study also maps how this protective lineage persists in several modern communities currently residing in the Andhra and Telangana regions, providing a direct genetic link across six millennia.