Posts
First, did you know that the reason Pygmies are so short [under 5 ft average] lies in the fact that they stop growing and start reproducing around age 12, for the simple reason that in two African groups, the average LIFE SPAN is 16 years!! Nor did I. Four other groups average a little over twenty years in the harsh conditions Pygmies around the world have chosen to dwell.
Second, did you know that the spread of Indo-Europeans around the globe may be the result of a:
variation in LCT, a gene involved in the metabolism of lactose, a sugar found in milk. All human babies can metabolise lactose, but only some adults can manage the trick. That fact, and the gene involved, have been known for some time. But Dr Moyzis's team have worked out the details of the evolution of LCT. They suspect that it was responsible for the sudden spread of the Indo-European group of humanity about 4,000 years ago, and also for the more recent spread of the Tutsis in Africa, whose ancestors independently evolved a tolerant version of the gene.
Third, did you know that:
Chinese, Japanese and Europeans, meanwhile, have all seen changes in a serotonin transporter. Serotonin is one of the brain's messenger molecules, and is particularly involved in establishing mood. The finding that may cause most controversy, however, is that in the Asian groups there has been strong selection for one variant of a gene that, in a different form, is responsible for Gaucher's disease. A few years ago two of the paper's other authors, Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending, suggested that the Gaucher's form of the gene might be connected with the higher than average intelligence notable among Ashkenazi Jews. The unstated inference is that something similar might be true in Asians, too.
This will get inquiring minds all in a tizzy, as smart Asians start populating the U. of Cal university system in overpowering numbers.
And China & Japan do have a growing influence in the world economy.
No comments :
Post a Comment