[Sciotecha] Many human genes evolved recently

[Frimlin]

[http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/dn8812.html]

Human genes involved in metabolism, skin pigmentation, brain function and reproduction have evolved in response to recent environmental changes, according to a new study of natural selection in the human genome.

Researchers at the University of Chicago, US, developed a statistical test to find genomic regions that evolution has favoured over the last 15,000 years or so – when modern humans dealt with the end of the last ice age, the beginning of agriculture, and increased population densities.

Many of the 700 genes the researchers identified – especially those involved in smelling, fertility, and reproduction – are also suspected of having undergone natural selection during the divergence of humans and chimpanzees millions of years ago.

But some of the newly identified genes fall into categories not previously known to be targets of selection in the human lineage, such as those involved in metabolism of carbohydrates and fatty acids.

Only part of the text from this article have been posted -- read more @ NewScientist.com.

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Posted by Frimlin to Sciotecha at 3/08/2006 08:47:00 PM