|
Post by Shadow on Dec 22, 2005 23:24:13 GMT -5
News Scientist# 22:00 19 December 2005 # From New Scientist Print Edition # Bob Holmes Darwin’s fingerprints can be found all over the human genome. A detailed look at human DNA has shown that a significant percentage of our genes have been shaped by natural selection in the past 50,000 years, probably in response to aspects of modern human culture such as the emergence of agriculture and the shift towards living in densely populated settlements. One way to look for genes that have recently been changed by natural selection is to study mutations called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – single-letter differences in the genetic code. The trick is to look for pairs of SNPs that occur together more often than would be expected from the chance genetic reshuffling that inevitably happens down the generations. Such correlations are known as linkage disequilibrium, and can occur when natural selection favours a particular variant of a gene, causing the SNPs nearby to be selected as well. Robert Moyzis and his colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, US, searched for instances of linkage disequilibrium in a collection of 1.6 million SNPs scattered across all the human chromosomes. They then looked carefully at the instances they found to distinguish the consequences of natural selection from other phenomena, such as random inversions of chunks of DNA, which can disrupt normal genetic reshuffling.
|
|
|
Post by Doc on Dec 23, 2005 1:49:37 GMT -5
This is stuff I really should get a basic understanding about. I know that the scientists aren't just blowing smoke. These are the technical facts of our genetic life on this planet.
|
|
|
Post by beatlies on Dec 23, 2005 17:22:18 GMT -5
This is America: civilization has left the building.
|
|
|
Post by LOVELYRITA on Dec 23, 2005 21:46:15 GMT -5
A detailed look by who? Illuminati scientists force feeding false information to lure people into thinking Darwinism is real? Using scientists as change agents is no new thing....
|
|