Genome complexity: other new adaptations (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, May 23, 2025, 21:45 (7 hours, 59 minutes ago) @ David Turell

In the Andes:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQbfLdjzdWwnrlRNsWLRrjpBNnL

"Starting around 10,000 years ago when people first settled in regions of the Andes mountains, gene variants arose that code for enzymes to break down arsenic in the liver (it leaches into groundwater in some regions there).
Around 4,500 years ago a gene spread in Europe and South Asia enabling people to digest milk past childhood.

"Around 8,500 years ago early farmers spread an allele (a version of a gene) that helped them synthesize long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from plant-based foods—these fatty acids are crucial for forming cell membranes, especially in the brain, and normally would only be obtained by eating meat.

"Why this matters: Such shifts in our ancestral DNA were among dozens in humans, based on new genetic analyses. For much of the 21st century, evolutionary biologists have assumed that humans evolved at a leisurely pace in recent millennia. But genetic studies suggest that H. sapiens experienced many major episodes of natural selection."

Comment: solidifies the point, we are very very adaptable.