Demeter's legacy: rapid changes to our genome imposed by diet

Etienne Patin (1) , Lluis Quintana-Murci (1)

1 Génétique Evolutive Humaine - Human Evolutionary Genetics

The transition from foraging to farming allowed humans to produce several foods in abundance that were previously scarce. However, early farmers had to adapt to benefit fully from this energy-rich but initially detrimental food supply. Perry et al. recently showed that natural selection has increased the copy number of a gene encoding a starch-digesting enzyme in farming populations. This study illustrates that genetic adaptation to new diets has occurred in humans since the agricultural revolution.

Domaines: Génétique des populations [q-bio.PE]; Génétique humaine

Etienne Patin, Lluis Quintana-Murci. Demeter's legacy: rapid changes to our genome imposed by diet. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2008, 23 (2), pp.56-59. ⟨10.1016/j.tree.2007.11.002⟩. ⟨hal-02352814⟩