01 Jun 2005
Lactose intolerance linked to ancestral environment

Well, I suppose that some people would find this new and amazing, given that evolution is only a "theory", after all. The doctors are even pretty explicit about their purposes:

Sherman's study concludes that adults from Europe can drink milk because their ancestors lived where dairying flourished and passed on gene mutations that maintain lactase into adulthood. The research, he said, is an example of Darwinian medicine, a new interdisciplinary field of science that takes an evolutionary look at health, and considers why, rather than how, certain conditions or symptoms develop. Sherman, for example, recently investigated why spices are used and why morning sickness occurs.

I wonder how long it'll take the protesters to show up at Cornell? I wonder if Cornell will accept aspiring physicians from Kansas into the program?

People whose ancestors came from where dairy herds could be raised safely can digest milk as adults. Most people in extreme climates or where deadly cattle diseases were historically present can't digest milk, finds a Cornell University study by Paul Sherman in a forthcoming issue of Evolution and Human Behavior.

(link) [EurekAlert! - Breaking News]

00:00 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link