Scientists have recreated a female Neanderthal using DNA sequencing and found that the old gal has a lot to teach modern humans, according to National Geographic.

Using the genomes from the 52,000-year-old bones of a female found in the Vindija cave in Croatia combined with another Neanderthal and modern humans, scientists are finding that the ancient breed of humans has a lot to teach us about the health of modern humans.

A study suggests that Neanderthals contributed more DNA to modern humans than was previously thought. They also likely bred with modern humans, meaning that their ancient DNA is still kicking around today in people of Eurasian ancestry.

The study also indicated that the ancient DNA may reveal things about modern health issues including blood cholesterol levels, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis. But that doesn’t mean that they are completely responsible for all your health issues. After all, there are many expressions of genes that factor into whether or not you will suffer from a particular disease.

According to researchers, there tend to be misconceptions that anything stemming from Neanderthals is bad, but that may not be true. For example, Vindija may have a variant that protects against bad cholesterol levels.

The latest Neanderthal offered the most information about ancient DNA that scientists have across and they’ve also said it is the most useful for all ethnicities.

In a separate study, scientists looked at how Neanderthals influenced modern-day appearances including eye color, how easily you sunburn, sleep time preference and being a night owl or a morning person.

More studies are still needed but scientists feel that they have gathered a lot of information since first discovering that Neanderthals mingled with modern humans. They hope to eventually find answers as to why certain genes have managed to survive through the ages.

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