Markers / Gene
SCN9A
3 positions in this gene are readable from a home DNA test.
Neanderthal: pain sensitivity, D1908G
rs3750904 · chr2:167,055,393 · T/C · evidence: strong
Neanderthals carried three changes in the sodium channel that carries pain signals. People who inherited them report more pain, and in laboratory testing have a lower threshold for mechanical pain. The variants are essentially absent in Europeans and common in Latin American populations.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | Not inherited |
| One copy | Inherited from one parent |
| Two copies | Inherited from both parents |
| Ancestry group | C (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 0.3% | |
| American | 26.2% | |
| East Asian | 13.6% | |
| European | 0.0% | |
| South Asian | 0.5% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Neanderthal: pain sensitivity, V991L
rs4369876 · chr2:167,129,256 · C/A · evidence: strong
The second of the three Neanderthal changes in the pain-signalling sodium channel.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | Not inherited |
| One copy | Inherited from one parent |
| Two copies | Inherited from both parents |
| Ancestry group | A (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 0.3% | |
| American | 12.7% | |
| East Asian | 6.1% | |
| European | 0.0% | |
| South Asian | 1.3% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Neanderthal: pain sensitivity, M932L
rs12478318 · chr2:167,133,540 · T/G · evidence: strong
The third of the three Neanderthal changes in the pain-signalling sodium channel.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | Not inherited |
| One copy | Inherited from one parent |
| Two copies | Inherited from both parents |
| Ancestry group | G (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 0.3% | |
| American | 12.8% | |
| East Asian | 6.1% | |
| European | 0.0% | |
| South Asian | 1.3% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Where this gene fits
If you have taken a home DNA test, these positions are already in your file.
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