Europeans were lactose intolerant for 4,000 years

by
in science on (#2VWY)
New research has revealed that ancient Europeans adapted the ability to digest dairy much later than expected. It's long been known that after humans transitioned from hunter gatherers to farmers, many populations also evolved the ability to tolerate lactose, a sugar found in dairy. But new DNA evidence now shows that this ability evolved much later in certain populations - and for 4,000 years ancient Europeans were eating cheese, despite not being able to stomach it.

Scientists had estimated that lactose tolerance must have evolved around 7,000 years ago or more, when cheese-making first started. But the researchers found that the genes didn't actually appear until 3,000 years ago. The next step is to map the distribution of the lactose-tolerant gene further, and find out more about how our genetics changed in response to our diet.

This seems to show that human evolution doesn't happen as quickly as expected, and lends some credence to the saying: Starving people have no food allergies.

Re: and so the chimney was invented (Score: 1)

by lmariachi@pipedot.org on 2014-12-15 22:10 (#2VZ6)

Not left/right, but rather walking between the lady and the buildings the chamber pots were being emptied out of. With the advent of indoorish plumbing, the decorum switched to walking on the outside, that the gentleman might shield the lady from gutter contents splashed up by passing carriages.
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