STILL EVOLVING (AFTER ALL THESE YEARS)

Despite some people's insistence humans are no longer subject to natural selection, the anthropologyst John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin suggests that we have evolved dramatically in the last 30,000 years and will continue to do so into the future. To prove a recent human evolution he makes reference to how Tibetans have adapted to living at very high altitudes.

In fact, Millions of Tibetans spend their days at average elevations of nearly 15,000 feet and even if , up there the air has 40 percent less oxygen than at sea level as well as a lack of O2 Tibetans seem to breathe easy. The last finding which is described in the journal Nature Genetics, compared the DNA of 90 Tibetans to that of people who are not altitude adapted.  Furthermore, they discovered  a mutation in the EGLN1 gene that prevents Tibetans’ blood from becoming dangerously clogged with red blood cells—a response that can be deadly for non-native mountaineers.

This mutation appears to have originated just 8,000 years ago. But it’s so advantageous that today, according to the last research, nearly 90 percent of Tibetans have it. While it’s virtually absent in even closely related lowland neighbors.

You can learn more about the finding at this link:

          - http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v46/n9/full/ng.3067.html