We’re Evolving, Seriously…
It looks like humans are evolving at a faster pace than in the distant past. According to a recent study with data from an international genomics project that describes the past 40,000 years as a time of supercharged evolutionary change:
“The massive growth of human populations has led to far more genetic mutations, and every mutation that is advantageous to people has a chance of being selected and driven toward fixation. We are more different genetically from people living 5,000 years ago than they were different from Neanderthals”
Many of the new genetic adjustments are occurring around changes in the human diet brought on by the advent of agriculture, and resistance to epidemic diseases that became major killers after the growth of human civilizations.
Science fiction writers have suggested a future Earth populated by a blend of all races into a common human form. In real life, the reverse seems to be happening. People are evolving more rapidly than in the distant past, with residents of various continents becoming increasingly different from one another. “I was raised with the belief that modern humans showed up 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and haven’t changed. The opposite seems to be true.”
Are we mutating or evolving? There’s a big difference! Evolution for me would mean more advantageous genes being passed on more often but is this really the case? I guess the genes are currently playing win or lose, some winning out over others. Scary when you think about what’s possibly being passed on to future generations…
Gnome study places modern humans in the evolutionary fast lane
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wow! thanks… I think your blog is great too! you’ve got another subscriber! still haunted by the fact that you can breathe out of a toilet… 😯