Question

(Q005) Humans are unusual because our cultural practices can actually change our environmental circumstances. We can change the environment in which natural selection acts on our traits. Describe how this process has played out in the evolution of adult lactose tolerance. Can you hypothesize any similar situations where our future evolution may be influenced by cultural practices we have today

Answer 1

The evolution of adult lactose tolerance in certain European populations serves as an example of how cultural practices, such as dairy farming, can influence human evolution through natural selection. Other modern cultural practices, such as sedentary lifestyles and medical technologies, may also shape future evolutionary paths.

Step-by-step explanation:

Evolution of Adult Lactose Tolerance

Humans have a unique capacity to influence their environment, which in turn can affect the evolutionary pathways their species follow. One example is the evolution of adult lactose tolerance. This occurred when certain European populations, who had begun domesticating cattle and consuming dairy, developed a genetic mutation that allowed them to continue producing the enzyme lactase into adulthood, providing them with a nutritional advantage in dairy-abundant environments. Over time, natural selection favored these individuals, leading to a higher frequency of lactase persistence in these populations.

Implications for Future Evolution

The cultural practice of dairy farming not only shaped the evolutionary trajectory regarding lactase persistence but also signifies how cultural practices continue to interact with biological evolution. Contemporary practices that may influence future human evolution include our increasingly sedentary lifestyle, high-calorie diets, and possibly our medical technologies that allow individuals with certain genetic predispositions to survive and reproduce.

Cultural practices have profound impacts on our biology and will conceivably continue to shape human evolution as we adapt to ever-changing environments, whether they be physical, social, or technological.

Answer 2

Lactose tolerance conferred an evolutionary advantage, thereby this beneficial mutation increased its frequency in the population

Step-by-step explanation:

Originally, adults were unable to digest lactose. But approximately 8,000-10,000 years ago something remarkable happened: a mutation near the gene that produces the lactase enzyme appeared in a raising cattle population from Europe-Middle East, making adults able to digest lactose. Nowadays, many adults from different societies are tolerant to digest lactose because this mutation increased its frequency and extended to different populations. It is a classical example of how a beneficial mutation may eventually become the most common gene variant by increasing its frequency in the population, and, subsequently extending to other populations. It is possible to hypothesize that new mutations associated with human activities may appear in current human societies, thereby conferring an evolutionary advantage in the same way that lactose tolerance in cattle-raising people. For example, nowadays, mutations in human behavior-associated genes might confer beneficial social skills (thereby increasing the frequencies across time or across populations).