Agriculture's impact on human evolution clarified
{{date|March 9, 2006}}

[[w:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]], [[Illinois]] biologists Dr. Benjamin Voight, Dr. Sridhar Kudaravalli, Dr. Xiaoquan Wen and Dr. Jonathan Pritchard have identified regions of human [[w:DNA|DNA]] showing the strongest marks of natural selection within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years.

They found that many recent genetic changes are related to the development of agriculture.  In particular, the genes for digestion of milk into adulthood occurred only after some level of domestication of animals.  Most mammals drink milk only in infancy.

The work may shed light on the genetic factors involved in various human medical conditions, including high blood pressure and alcoholism.

The Chicago finding also contradicts the tacit assumption of much social science that human evolution "ground to a halt" in the distant past.  Even evolutionary psychologists have tempered their claims based upon this assumption.

The study is based upon DNA changes found in three populations examined by the HapMap project: [[Africa]]ns, East Asians and [[Europe]]ans.

The study has been published in PLOS-Biology.

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060306/full/060306-8.html
|title=Human selection is alive and kicking: Geneticists track evolutionary forces in three populations.
|author=Michael Hopkin
|pub=Nature
|date= March 7, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/science/07evolve.html?ex=1299387600&en=039ecd5836bc6b0e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
|title= Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story
|author=Nicholas Wade
|pub=New York Times
|date=March 7, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040072|title=A Map of Recent Positive Selection in the Human Genome|author=Voight BF, Kudaravalli S, Wen X, Pritchard JK|pub=PLoS Biology|date=March 2006}}

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[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:Illinois]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Genetics]]
[[Category:Agriculture]]
[[Category:Anthropology]]

[[fr:L'impact de l'agriculture sur l'évolution est clarifié]]
[[sv:DNA-spår kastar nytt ljus över den neolitiska revolutionen]]
University of Chicago, Illinois biologists Dr. Benjamin Voight, Dr. Sridhar Kudaravalli, Dr. Xiaoquan Wen and Dr. Jonathan Pritchard have identified regions of human DNA showing the strongest marks of natural selection within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years.

They found that many recent genetic changes are related to the development of agriculture.  In particular, the genes for digestion of milk into adulthood occurred only after some level of domestication of animals.  Most mammals drink milk only in infancy.

The work may shed light on the genetic factors involved in various human medical conditions, including high blood pressure and alcoholism.

The Chicago finding also contradicts the tacit assumption of much social science that human evolution "ground to a halt" in the distant past.  Even evolutionary psychologists have tempered their claims based upon this assumption.

The study is based upon DNA changes found in three populations examined by the HapMap project: Africans, East Asians and Europeans.

The study has been published in PLOS-Biology.
Biology Science and technology Illinois United States North America Genetics Agriculture Anthropology