Re: Natural Selection on Drugs


Glenn wrote:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070906-16510800-bc-britain-schizophrenia.xml

"Evolution-schizophrenia linkage found"

"BATH, England, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- British-led researchers said they
found a linkage between evolution and the development of
schizophrenia.

The scientists said they found evidence of positive selection, also
known as Darwinian selection, in several genes associated with
schizophrenia. Darwinian selection is the process by which new
variants of genes become dominant because organisms with the new
versions are more likely to survive.

The researchers -- Steve Dorus of the University of Bath, Bernard
Crespi of Canada's Simon Fraser University and Kyle Summers of East
Carolina University -- said they believe their finding helps explain
the persistence of schizophrenia, despite its adverse effects on
health and reproductive fitness.

About 1 percent of people suffer from schizophrenia.

"The world-wide presence of this disorder at an appreciable frequency,
despite its impact on human health and reproductive fitness, is
somewhat of a paradox," said Dorus, adding the persistence of
schizophrenia would be understandable if the condition was a by-
product of other adaptive changes during human evolution.

"Our finding that positive evolutionary processes have impacted genes
underlying the disorder is consistent with this idea," he said."

"... It also provides genetic evidence consistent with the long-
standing theory that schizophrenia represents, in part, a maladaptive
by-product of adaptive changes during human evolution - possibly to do
with aspects of creativity and human cognition. ..."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070904214422.htm

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