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Author Topic:   Human Evolution - Speciation
pink sasquatch
Member (Idle past 6052 days)
Posts: 1567
Joined: 06-10-2004


Message 5 of 39 (157454)
11-08-2004 10:01 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by wormjitsu
11-06-2004 7:48 AM


high altitude gene
For example..if one civilization were to excessively drink alcohol and avoid excersize while eating only manufactured foods, and another were to do the opposite, could this over time, and over many generations cause a genetic mutation of one or both societies?
Probably not with this specific example, unless the diet/exercise was so extreme that it reduced fertility in a way that was not overcome by human technology. Natural selection would only weed out those gene variants that reduce survival prior to reproduction, or reproduction itself.
Though there are such possibilities as the "grandmother" effect; that is, older relatives who help ensure survival of their kin after they themselves have passed reproductive age.
Diet does influence mutation rate - processed/cured meats like sausage, hot dogs, and bacon are mutagenic; as are well done or seared meats. A diet high in such things may increase genetic variation, but would also increase incidences of diseases like cancer.
There is the example of a "high altitude gene" in Himalayan populations that allows better use of oxygen, and thus better survival of offspring, at higher altitude. Free full text of the article here: Higher offspring survival among Tibetan women with high oxygen saturation genotypes residing at 4,000 m.
If you consider living at a high altitude as "choices that humans make today", than given the above reference, the answer is yes - the choices do influence the genetic code of their offspring.

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pink sasquatch
Member (Idle past 6052 days)
Posts: 1567
Joined: 06-10-2004


Message 22 of 39 (158153)
11-10-2004 6:05 PM
Reply to: Message 21 by Loudmouth
11-10-2004 12:58 PM


addiction
Many native americans metabolize alcohol through a different pathway than Europeans. This different pathway results in a highly addictive byproduct.
On top of this, some Native Americans have a heightened addiction susceptibility genotype - meaning addiction to any chemical substance from nicotine to heroin. There is a high correlation amongst propensity to addiction to multiple substances. I believe this might be true for non-Native Americans as well, but the susceptibility is much more extreme in some Native Americans and has led to the identification of some general "addiction" QTLs separate of alcohol metabolism.
Unfortunately it isn't published yet - I saw it in a talk by KC Wilhelmsen.

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pink sasquatch
Member (Idle past 6052 days)
Posts: 1567
Joined: 06-10-2004


Message 26 of 39 (158833)
11-12-2004 3:47 PM
Reply to: Message 25 by Loudmouth
11-11-2004 1:39 PM


Re: addiction
I'm not remembering an alternate pathway, but that doesn't mean you are delusional. I think you mentioned reduced aldehyde dehydrogenase activity as a possibility - if my toxicology memory serves me correctly this might increase liver or systemic toxicity, but I'm not sure how it would effect dependency/addiction.
At least one genetic study found linkage to an alcohol dehydrognase:
Am J Med Genet. 2004 Aug 15;129B(1):110-5.
Genomic screen for loci associated with alcohol dependence in Mission Indians.
Ehlers CL, Gilder DA, Wall TL, Phillips E, Feiler H, Wilhelmsen KC.
Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, University of California, San Diego, California 92037,
Alcohol dependence is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Native Americans, yet biological factors underlying the disorder in this ethnic group remain elusive. This study's aims were to map susceptibility loci for DSM-III-R alcohol dependence and two narrower alcohol-related phenotypes in Mission Indian families. Each participant gave a blood sample and completed an interview using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) that was used to make alcohol dependence diagnoses and the narrower phenotypes of withdrawal, and drinking severity. Genotypes were determined for a panel 791 microsatellite polymorphisms. Analyses of multipoint variance component LOD scores for the dichotomous DSM-III-R phenotype revealed no peak LOD scores that exceeded 2.0 at any chromosome location. Two chromosomes, 4 and 12, had peak LOD scores that exceeded 2 for the alcohol use severity phenotype and three chromosomes 6, 15, 16 were found to have peaks with LOD scores that exceeded 2 for the withdrawal phenotype. Evidence for linkage to chromosomes 4 and 15, and 16 have been reported previously for alcohol related phenotypes whereas no evidence has as yet been reported for chromosomes 6 and 12. Combined linkage and association analysis suggest that alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene polymorphisms are partially responsible for the linkage result on chromosome 4 in this population. These results corroborate the importance of several chromosomal regions highlighted in prior segregation studies in alcoholism and further identify new regions of the genome that may be unique to either the restricted phenotypes evaluated or this population of Mission Indians.

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