Pressure makes people evolve faster

Scientists claim that human evolution has not stopped because our genes are responding to changes from the outside environment.

In fact, some anthropologists argue that the pressure of modern industrial life is accelerating the pace of human evolution. This observation contradicts the prevailing view in the 20th century, according to which advances in medicine, pharmaceuticals and many other areas make the evolution of humanity level off.

'Today, many anthropologists agree that human evolution is a continuous process,' said Robert Wald Sussman, an anthropologist at Washington University (USA). According to him, it is possible that our genes are changing so fast that one day the earth will witness the presence of a completely new human being. This species will not mate with us.

The evolution of mankind was heatedly discussed in the annual seminar of the American Anthropological Association in Chicago last week. This is also the subject of anthropologist "The 10,000 Year Explosion", Henry Harpending - an expert at the University of Utah (USA).

'For the most part of the last century, the social science community has argued that the evolution of mankind has long since stopped. Obviously, that is a wrong view, because our evolution continues , ' Harpending said.

Anthropologists at the University of Utah argue that human genetic changes have accelerated over the past 10,000 years, not slowing or slowing down. The evolution process is so fast that the human mind and morphology are witnessing significant changes.

Human morphology changes when random gene mutations or DNA damage (due to radiation, smoking or exposure to toxic chemicals) creates new genes. Only some genetic changes cause bad consequences, and most do not create any impact, even help us pass on many good properties to the next generation. That's the natural selection process that Charles Darwin proposed 150 years ago.

For example, a tiny change in the gene regulates the dark color of the skin on the skin of African to European migrants. Meanwhile people staying in Africa retain their dark skin because it protects them from the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays. African-Americans in northern Europe need darker skin because it allows them to absorb sunlight to produce vitamin D (essential for bone growth).

Despite advances in medicine and technology, the natural selection process continues to take place by the pressure from the surrounding environment. For example, the AIDS epidemic in southern Africa is creating genetic mutations that can prevent the spread of HIV.