Forces that Shape the Human Genome

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at what forces play a role in human evolution. It examines, for example, migration, parasites, recombination and relates it to relevant examples, including the spread of an epidemic.

From the Paper:

"The human genome has been shaped by a number of evolutionary processes whose heterogeneity and interactions also account for the genetic diversity within the human population. Throughout the evolutionary history of our species, one of the most important determinants of genetic diversity has been the force of natural selection. Natural selection tends to eliminate phenotypic traits that decrease fitness (reproductive success). Since a phenotype is largely a reflection of a genotype and reproduction serves as the only means of transmission of genes, natural selection helps to shape evolution by decreasing the frequency of detrimental alleles (versions) of genes in population over time. Some genes, however, seem to be under little or no selection pressure and hence can have multiple alleles without a negative impact upon survival and reproduction. Different alleles, moreover, confer differential fitness depending on environmental factors. Thus, the presence of the sickle cell allele of the hemoglobin gene in a population is disadvantageous in the US, but confers a reproductive advantage to heterozygous individuals who reside in an area that has a high prevalency of malaria."

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