Diet and habitat have tweaked our genes
Researchers analyze more than 700 tweaks in our
DNA in the past 5-10,000 years
Scientists have spotted signs of recent evolution in the human genetic code, suggesting that diet and changes in habitat have had a lasting effect on our make-up.
In one of the first detailed scans of the entire human genome, researchers discovered more than 700 tweaks to genes they believe have arisen in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years, a period of time that saw humans spread north from equatorial regions and develop agriculture as a means of securing food.
Moving north had other implications for our health. While the genetic code of the Africans tested revealed a gene that makes our bodies retain salt that would be lost through sweating, the Europeans and Asians had a version that causes more salt to be released, possibly acting as a defence against salt-induced hypertension (high blood pressure).
The study also reveals the emergence of a gene now found in 90% of Europeans that allows them to digest milk into adulthood, a likely consequence of dairy farming. The gene will probably be found in everyone in a further 1,000 years, the researchers say.
Hopefully, we’ll lose more of the Stone Age genes as civilization continues to take hold.
Posted: Wed - March 8, 2006 at 07:05 AM