Principles of evolutionary medicine

Natural selection in the modern human population

evomed — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:26:48 +0000

Are humans still evolving? In Chapter 6, we reviewed the current debate on the pace and direction of human evolution. It might seem that modern medical technologies and welfare provisions have removed the impact of natural selection on the human population: those who in the past would have died young, today survive into the reproductive [...]

The price of lighter skin?

evomed — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Chapter 3 introduced the concept of positive selection, which refers to the increase in frequency of specific traits that confer a fitness advantage. Table 3.1 also gave examples of several human genes which have been shown to be under recent positive selection (ie, within the last 10,000 years). It is thought that environmental changes act [...]

Regulating the age of puberty

evomed — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:06:15 +0000

The age of puberty is a central feature of a species’ life history. The mechanism that controls the onset of sexual maturity evolved to allow for successful reproduction. Reproduction is energetically costly for the female and a degree of physical and psychosocial maturity is necessary for successful pregnancy and infant care. In humans, the timing [...]

We age because we grow

evomed — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:55:56 +0000

Anthropologist Hillard Kaplan and economist Arthur Robson have extended the disposable soma hypothesis to propose a new mathematical model of aging that explains the main characteristics of human demography.