Daily Archives: March 19, 2015

For decades, evolutionists have believed that when it comes to human reproduction, it's a case of survival of the fittest. However a new study into human genetics actually shows that wealth and power play an even stronger role.

AUT Professor Steve Pointing says in the last few thousand years, brawn's role in deciding which men pass down their genes is becoming less important.

"If a particular organism has favourable traits for environment, it will pass on more of its genes and have more offspring than if you have less favourable traits," he explained on Firstline this morning.

"But there's growing evidence now that in humans, the reverse is true we're actually dictating evolution because the wealth and power aspect of our society is actually driving evolution of our species."

The research, conducted by Arizona State University, looked at the Y chromosome of 500 men worldwide. They found that between 4000 and 8000 years ago, there was a bottleneck in genetic diversity for males.

At the same time, female genetic diversity was increasing rapidly implying at the time, only a few men were mating with many women.

"The smoking gun for that is the change from a nomadic, hunter-gatherer society to a more agrarian society, where we know wealth and power become concentrated in fewer individuals."

The findings are concerning for the future of the human race, because any loss in genetic diversity is "bad news".

"It means that as a species we become more susceptible to catastrophic diseases and events," says Prof Pointing.

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Study: Wealth and power key to men's genetic success

Britain may be famous for preserving its royal DNA, but a genetic analysis of the nation is providing new insights into the "story of the masses," according to scientists.

Researchers announced Wednesday that they had created the world's first fine-scale genetic map of any country, an achievement that allowed them to settle a few long-running debates about the history and bloodlines of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group's most surprising finding was its failure to identify a single "Celtic" genetic group. In fact, the researchers said that the Celtic regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall were among the most genetically different.

Likewise, they found no clear genetic evidence of the Danish Viking occupation and control of a large part of England during the 9th century, suggesting a "relatively limited input of DNA."

The research, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature, was conducted by an international team and led by scientists from the University of Oxford, University College London and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia.

ThePeople of the British Isles study was based on sophisticated statistical analysis of DNA samples from 2,030 rural British residents. Each of the whiteDNA donors had all four of their grandparents born within 48 miles of one another, essentially allowingresearchers to sample the DNA of the grandparents in specific regions.

The DNA samples were studied for differences at roughly half a million positions along the genome, and were then grouped by similarity. Researchers plotted each DNA donor on a map, positioning the donorsat the geographic midpoint of their grandparents' birthplaces.

"What was striking was the pattern of variation we saw and the way it aligned with geography," said coauthor Peter Donnelly, director of the Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford.

Subtle yet identifiable genetic patterns could be found separated by current-day county lines, Donnelly said. Such was the case with Cornwall and Devon, in England's southwest.

In order to provide context, researchers alsoanalyzed DNA samples from 6,209 volunteers from 10 other European nations. That data allowed researchers to determine the genetic contributions of people from other parts of Europe.

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Study of Britain produces first fine-scale genetic map of a nation