rs10774671
Neanderthal: the antiviral version of OAS1
What this position does
Neanderthals did not only hand over risk. This stretch of chromosome 12 carries a version of an antiviral gene that produces a longer, roughly 60 per cent more active enzyme, and it is associated with protection against severe COVID-19.
What each result means
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies of the effect version AA | You have the shorter, less active version Neither copy carries the protective form. |
| One copy AG | You carry one protective copy One copy of the more active enzyme, associated with a modestly lower chance of severe disease. |
| Two copies GG | You carry two protective copies Two copies of the more active enzyme. |
Worth knowing. The same protective version also occurs in people of African ancestry, where it arose independently rather than through Neanderthals. Carrying it does not by itself prove Neanderthal inheritance.
How common each version is
| Ancestry group | G (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 64.0% | |
| American | 27.4% | |
| East Asian | 25.5% | |
| European | 35.2% | |
| South Asian | 29.0% |
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.
How many people carry each result
| Ancestry group | AA | AG | GG |
|---|---|---|---|
| African | 87 / 661 | 302 / 661 | 272 / 661 |
| European | 209 / 503 | 234 / 503 | 60 / 503 |
| East Asian | 287 / 504 | 177 / 504 | 40 / 504 |
| South Asian | 254 / 489 | 186 / 489 | 49 / 489 |
| American | 189 / 347 | 126 / 347 | 32 / 347 |
Counts of people, not modelled frequencies: every one of the 2,504 individuals sequenced by the 1000 Genomes Project phase 3, tallied by the genotype they carry. Deriving these from allele frequencies instead would assume random mating inside each group and undercount the homozygotes.
How to find out which you have
If you have taken a test with 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, TellMeGen or Living DNA, this position is very likely already in the raw data file they gave you. You do not need another test.
One thing to watch if you look it up by hand: testing companies report some positions from one DNA strand and some from the other, and the file does not say which. Read the letters as they appear and you will get the opposite of the truth for some positions. Sequencings resolves that automatically.
Source
Coordinates and allele pair verified against Ensembl GRCh37. Direction of effect verified against VEP protein consequences or 1000 Genomes population frequency. Category: Archaic DNA.
Where this fits
Common questions
What is rs10774671?
rs10774671 is a position in the OAS1 gene on chromosome 12. Neanderthals did not only hand over risk. This stretch of chromosome 12 carries a version of an antiviral gene that produces a longer, roughly 60 per cent more active enzyme, and it is associated with protection against severe COVID-19.
What does it mean if I have GG at rs10774671?
You carry two protective copies. Two copies of the more active enzyme.
What does it mean if I have AA at rs10774671?
You have the shorter, less active version. Neither copy carries the protective form.
How do I find out my rs10774671 genotype?
If you have taken a home DNA test, this position is very likely in the raw data file you were given. Sequencings reads that file in your browser without uploading it, and resolves which DNA strand each position was reported from, which is the step most manual lookups get wrong.
This is reference information, not medical advice, and not a diagnosis. See the medical disclaimer. Category: Archaic DNA.