Timeline for How is evolution possible in contemporary humans?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Feb 15, 2013 at 21:05 | comment | added | Lucas Wiman | To rephrase that paragraph in more PC language: some self-identified ethnic groups have higher birthrates than others. To the extent that allele frequencies in high-birthrate ethnic groups are different from the mean frequency for the population as a whole, the US population is "evolving" to increase the frequencies of those alleles. I added "race has a genetic component, but..." to specifically avoid an interpretation that genetics were the cause of increased birthrates. | |
| Feb 15, 2013 at 20:48 | comment | added | Lucas Wiman | I mean that there are differences in allele frequencies among the census bureau race/ethnicity categories. These are probably self-identified groups, but there are differences in allele frequencies between the group of people who self-identify as hispanic vs those who self-identify as white/caucasian. Alleles common in the former group are becoming more frequent relative to alleles common in the second group. Those would presumably include some alleles for skin pigmentation, among others (like variations in lactose tolerance, renal sodium channels, sickle-cell anemia, etc). | |
| Feb 15, 2013 at 13:37 | comment | added | yotiao | I just want to emphasise that "races" is more of a social construct than a scientifically strictly defined category (see Razib Khan's comment here: blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=1350#.UR45L1qcYVo) . So while I agree with a term "alleles associated with some populations" the other terms you use ("race has a genetic component", "less white") are more murky (unless, in the latter example, you're talking about alleles associated with skin color - but then again, they do not necessarily correlate with ancestry). | |
| Oct 31, 2012 at 21:56 | history | edited | Rory M | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Adding in links for new user
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| Oct 31, 2012 at 2:29 | review | First posts | |||
| Oct 31, 2012 at 21:56 | |||||
| Oct 31, 2012 at 2:11 | history | answered | Lucas Wiman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |