Evolution isn't stuck around gypsy moths,
microbes or birds -- HUMANS are evolving too,
right now...
Can you hear it?
Hello there evolved persons!
Trace here for DNews.
We've studied evolution for a long time.
We have heaps of evidence showing the path
evolution took from the dawn of man to the
present day.
There are those who deny we've evolved at
all, and believe evolution is purely science
fiction, but though I really liked Nickelodeon's
Tomorrow People, X-Men and Heroes, REAL human
evolution DOES exist in recorded history.
5,000 years ago, in the third millenium B.C.,
humans were in the Bronze Age -- Europeans
were learning to use metals, the Sumerians
were building Ziggurats, and the Egyptians
were figuring out Papyrus -- and since then,
we've gone through physiological changes.
Humans aren't just smarter, though that's
part of it -- we've genetically mutated and
adapted!
A study published in Nature in 2012 analyzed
the human genome and found we're now carrying
mutations that didn't exist 5,000 years ago!
The 6,500 DNA strands of European and African
Americans contained 1.15 MILLION single-nucleotide
variants -- that is to say, a single letter
of the ACGT structure of DNA was different
than other individuals.
This shows we've evolved because evolution
is simply mutation over time, with some mutations
performing better than others.
When a group of humans left the cradle of
life in Africa en route to Europe, they left
behind a broad DNA base, limiting themselves
to only their band of explorers.
This means European Americans are carrying
around more of these single-variant mutations
because of that smaller initial gene pool.
Human evolution continues the way it always
has, through DNA encoding errors causing adaptation...
whether this is positive or negative is where
natural selection plays a role.
Geneticists from Africa and Europe analyzed
ANCIENT DNA to determine a baseline for our
evolutionary change, and found our skin, hair
and eye pigmentation has slowly adapted and
changed as we've spread.
Their research, published the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences used computer
simulations to compare that baseline to modern
Europeans to find out how certain genetic
mutations affected our bodies.
According to their DNA comparisons, modern
Europeans were significantly darker skinned
5,000 years ago.
But, as we pushed north, nature weeded out
darker skin because it's less efficient at
producing vitamin D in the lower-UV cloudier
latitudes -- as there was a lack of vitamin-D
from the sun, these people needed to get it
from their diet instead, which explains why
most of the planet have trouble digesting
lactose, except for those who have descendants
in the cloudy north of Europe.
The evolution of hair and eye color is less
clear, there is some basic evidence that blue-eyed
people can see better in the dark -- This
is just my thought, but perhaps these cloudier
places influenced the lighter eye color as
well?
More study is needed, for sure.
Unfortunately, because of the limited gene
pool not all the mutations are good; 14-percent
of them were potentially harmful, possibly
causing diseases.
Oh mother Earth, thou art a heartless wench.
Do you feel... evolved?
Click the like if you do, and the dislike
if you don't.
Some days I do, when I've had the right mix
of sleep and diet...
Tell us your feelings in the comments below
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