[ExI] Gout and meat adaptations

[Harvey Newstrom]

"spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote,
> What do you think of my notion that human groups radiated long enough ago
> that some (limited) digestive system adaptations and genetic drift have had
> time to occurr, which allow some humans to do things with their diet that
> others cannot do?  Seems like there should be plenty of documentation on
> variation of digestive system anatomy within the species.
> 
> spike

This is absolutely correct.  The best know example is, of course,
lactose intolerance.  Early Africans could not digest lactose, but the
European population quickly spread the ability to digest lactose.

They didn't necessarily develop the ability from scratch.  It might have
been a pre-existing ability in a small percent of the population. 
However, those with that ability thrived over the generations and spread
this genetic ability fairly quickly in the European environment.

People often confuse the speed of individual mutations with the speed of
population adaptation.  Developing a mutation to digest lactose may have
taken a long time.  But spreading that mutation once it became
advantageous could occur very quickly.

--
Harvey Newstrom, Security Consultant, <www.HarveyNewstrom.com>
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