HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
AIDS in Africa has potential to affect human evolution, UC Berkeley scientists report

Berkeley - If anyone doubts that epidemics can affect the course of human evolution, take a look at AIDS.

Three biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, show in this week's issue of Nature (May 31, 2001) that over a period of several generations, AIDS could alter the frequency of specific genetic mutations in African populations, delaying the average time between HIV infection and onset of disease.

Though this genetic evolution probably won't impact health management in Africa - public health experts pray that drugs or vaccines will soon cut the high mortality and infection rates on the continent - it provides a rare example of how epidemic infectious diseases can exert selective pressure on the human genome.

The only other widely accepted example of selection of this intensity caused by an infectious disease acting on a gene conferring resistance is malaria. Over hundreds of years, the disease selected for certain genes that increased the chance of human survival to reproductive age, but which caused other blood diseases, primarily sickle cell anemia but also the thalassemias.

"Natural selection in the case of AIDS in Africa is as strong as the selection malaria had on the gene that causes sickle cell anemia," said mathematical biologist Montgomery Slatkin, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. "That's what surprised us."

Charles Darwin coined the term "natural selection" and focused on it as the driving force of evolution, whereby slight variations that increase the number of offspring tend to become more common in successive generations. The same idea is embodied in the phrase "survival of the fittest."

Scientists have speculated that infectious diseases that reached epidemic proportions over the course of history - from bubonic plague and measles to smallpox - have affected human evolution, selecting for genes that reduce mortality before or through the reproductive years. Evidence, however, is har
'"/>

Contact: Robert Sanders
rls@pa.urel.berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
29-May-2001


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Visiting African scientists collaborate with MBL scientists on infectious diseases
2. For Africas valuable mahoganies, its the soil, stupid
3. Genetic mutation linked to more aggressive breast cancer found more often in African-Americans
4. More aggressive breast cancer tumors found in African American women
5. Satellites map volcanic home of Africas endangered gorillas
6. The first domesticated donkey was born in Africa
7. National Academies Advisory: June 25 UN public briefing on agriculture in Africa
8. Two dinosaurs from Africa give clues to continents split
9. Colorectal cancer rates in African Americans equal with insurance parity
10. East African artifacts support evolution of symbolic thinking in Middle Stone Age
11. Lion attacks on livestock in Africa are significant but manageable

Post Your Comments:
(Date:5/17/2013)... Jersey, and City University of New York have invented ... effectively clears organisms to be viewed under microscopes. Visikol ... is one of the few high-quality clearing solutions currently ... Enforcement Administration (DEA) due to its use as a ... for viewing organisms under a microscope. Without them, microscope ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... a group of proteins in the brain responsible for ... target that could increase cell survival. , The discovery, ... and published in the EMBO journal with ... new therapies for stroke and other brain diseases. , ... which identified a protein, known as SUMO, responsible for ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... Cargo in Efficient and Sustainable Global Logistics Operations) is ... in the efficiency of intermodal loading systems and the ... comprises 29 European organisations with experience in the logistics ... budget totalling 17,000,000 and a duration of three and ... and develop the semantic components and ontologies shared by ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New formula invented for microscope viewing, substitutes for federally controlled drug 2New formula invented for microscope viewing, substitutes for federally controlled drug 3SUMO wrestling cells reveal new protective mechanism target for stroke 2New logistics services that will cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions 2
(Date:5/17/2013)... news release is available in German . ... too well: with the naked eye, you can see which ... in the blur of branches through the telephoto lens for ... for researchers who are looking to study proteins, the active ... ETH Zurich,s Institute for Molecular Systems Biology, and her colleagues ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... ALTO, Calif. , May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ... it has achieved 50% enrollment of the total ... to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of ... Cells) therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA). To date ... (SAE) reported. The Phase I open ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... The paradigm of ‘one drug, one ... can help predict the adverse and therapeutic effects of ... of Computational Biology at the Genomics Laboratory, Covance, will ... high-quality genomics when used as part of the QC ... data sets to identify key clinical targets even in ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... May 16, 2013 The Stirling ... Global Cooling, Inc., Athens, OH, USA, won the Outstanding ... the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) ... given to one product annually, recognizes the company’s development ... temperature freezer. The award was presented to Global ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Proteome atlas for the tuberculosis pathogen 2Proteome atlas for the tuberculosis pathogen 3Cellular Biomedicine Group Achieves 50% Enrollment Milestone in Phase I Clinical Trial for Knee Osteoarthritis 2Stirling Ultracold Ultra-Low Freezer Wins 2013 Outstanding New Product Award at International Biorepository Conference, Sydney, Australia 2
Cached News: