The invention and global spread of agriculture is one of the most profound events in the history of the earth. It dramatically altered the distribution and abundance of plants and animals as well as the fundamental bio-geochemical cycles that regulate the planet. There is now evidence that it also changed the genetic makeup of humans. Check out this NYT article that describes a recently published study that has for the first time linked human genomic changes (i.e. evolution) with agriculture: http://nyti.ms/1jgdzZC
The actual scientific paper is here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature16152.html
No comments:
Post a Comment