Human evolution: Still evolving after all these years
DOI: 10.1038/nrg2831
Humans are still evolving and we’re beginning to understand how, suggests an article for Nature Reviews Genetics. From height to blood pressure, we continue to be shaped by selective forces, some of which are of our own making.
The tools for analysing contemporary evolution have existed for some time, but only recently have they been applied to large, multigenerational human datasets. Steve Stearns and colleagues note that natural selection acts wherever there is variation in fitness and where such fitness is linked to variation in genetically-influenced traits. There is selection to reduce the age at first reproduction, to increase the age at menopause, and to improve traits such as total blood cholesterol. Selection on male height is more complex, however, with forces acting against both extremes – either being very tall or very short.
Across the world, selection operates on different traits: humans in developed countries are more likely to vary in fertility, whereas mortality makes a greater contribution to fitness within populations in developing countries.
Understanding how our biological nature is being altered by culture and by public health practices will help to predict how such interventions affect human health and demography in the shorter and longer term.
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Stephen Stearns (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA)
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Doug Ewbank (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
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