#1
Publicado: Dom Nov 29, 2015 6:34 pm
Scientists are now able to analyze ancient DNA from skeletons, revealing all sorts of new information about how humans evolved.
The latest discoveries in Europe have spurred a slew of new theories about how the rise of agriculture -- both crop farming and raising domesticated animals for meat -- shaped our genes. Researchers are linking the gene changes to why Europeans' skin lightened after migrating from Africa, and that adapting to consumer dairy products also gave us irritable bowel syndrome, according to the New York Times.
When people lived in what is now Europe made the switch from hunting and gathering to agriculture, likely spurred by a wave of immigrants from the Near East, their diet moved toward one dependent on wheat and other crops with nutrients their bodies weren't used to processing.
A gene called SLC22A4 helped humans digest more nutrients from wheat and other crops. But, it also introduced irritable bowel syndrome into European farmers' lives as well.
The study also adds a new theory to why Europeans' skin lightened. Previously, scientists thought it was to allow a greater intake of Vitamin D from sunlight. But the study suggests that agriculture reduced how much Vitamin D they consumed.
When living on a hunter-gatherer diet, the early Europeans got Vitamin D from the meat they caught. But when that was lessened in their diet, that source went away.
You can read more about the study here: Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/va ... 16152.html
-- Molly Harbarger
Fuente:http://www.oregonlive.com/business/inde ... he_ri.html
The latest discoveries in Europe have spurred a slew of new theories about how the rise of agriculture -- both crop farming and raising domesticated animals for meat -- shaped our genes. Researchers are linking the gene changes to why Europeans' skin lightened after migrating from Africa, and that adapting to consumer dairy products also gave us irritable bowel syndrome, according to the New York Times.
When people lived in what is now Europe made the switch from hunting and gathering to agriculture, likely spurred by a wave of immigrants from the Near East, their diet moved toward one dependent on wheat and other crops with nutrients their bodies weren't used to processing.
A gene called SLC22A4 helped humans digest more nutrients from wheat and other crops. But, it also introduced irritable bowel syndrome into European farmers' lives as well.
The study also adds a new theory to why Europeans' skin lightened. Previously, scientists thought it was to allow a greater intake of Vitamin D from sunlight. But the study suggests that agriculture reduced how much Vitamin D they consumed.
When living on a hunter-gatherer diet, the early Europeans got Vitamin D from the meat they caught. But when that was lessened in their diet, that source went away.
You can read more about the study here: Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/va ... 16152.html
-- Molly Harbarger
Fuente:http://www.oregonlive.com/business/inde ... he_ri.html
