Hidden History of Human Adaptation
Published:01 Dec.2022 Source:University of Adelaide
“It was widely believed the genetics of our human ancestors didn’t change due to environmental pressures as much as other animals, due to our enhanced communication skills and ability to make and use tools,” Dr Souilmi said. “However, by comparing modern genomes with ancient DNA, we discovered more than 50 cases of an initially rare beneficial genetic variant becoming prevalent across all members of ancient human groups.”
“In contrast to many other species, evidence for this type of adaptive genetic change has been inconsistent in humans. This discovery consequently challenges the prevailing view of human adaptation, and gives us a new and exciting insight into how humans have adapted to the novel environmental pressures they encountered as we spread across the planet.” Dr Souilmi said. Therefore, examining ancient DNA has been critical in unlocking the secrets of human evolution. “We believed historical mixing events between human groups might have hidden signs of genetic changes in modern human genomes,” Dr Tobler said.