Accelerating evolution

It used to be thought that human evolution was a thing of the past. The case for continuing evolution has been building for some time now, however, and now the evidence seems overwhelming that the pace of human evolution is accelerating, not slowing:

The pace of human evolution has been increasing at a stunning rate since our ancestors began spreading through Europe, Asia and Africa 40,000 years ago, quickening to 100 times historical levels after agriculture became widespread, according to a study published today.

By examining more than 3 million variants of DNA in 269 people, researchers identified about 1,800 genes that have been widely adopted in relatively recent times because they offer some evolutionary benefit. . .

Altogether, the recent genetic changes account for 7% of the human genome, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Posted by David on September 16, 2009 8:36 AM