Comments on: Got Lactose Intolerance? http://savageminds.org/2006/12/16/got-lactose-intolerance/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:06:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Kerim http://savageminds.org/2006/12/16/got-lactose-intolerance/comment-page-1/#comment-43840 Kerim Sun, 17 Dec 2006 07:36:15 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2006/12/16/got-lactose-intolerance/#comment-43840 Thanks Fred. Note to other readers: P. falciparum = "one of the species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans." Thanks Fred.

Note to other readers: P. falciparum = “one of the species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans.”

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]]> By: Fred http://savageminds.org/2006/12/16/got-lactose-intolerance/comment-page-1/#comment-43833 Fred Sun, 17 Dec 2006 05:46:13 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2006/12/16/got-lactose-intolerance/#comment-43833 The genetic change came about because of cultural change. You have to be careful about how to interpret this statement. The genetic mutation is just that, a mutation that occurs at random--ie. thalassemia mutations occur at random in populations outside of regions in which malaria is endemic. But while we look on lactose tolerance as a good thing, we must note that P. falciparum population explosion occured around the same time, and is likely linked to agriculture's beginnings in the early Neolithic. Good outcomes and ill occur oftentimes under the same conditions. The genetic change came about because of cultural change. You have to be careful about how to interpret this statement. The genetic mutation is just that, a mutation that occurs at random–ie. thalassemia mutations occur at random in populations outside of regions in which malaria is endemic. But while we look on lactose tolerance as a good thing, we must note that P. falciparum population explosion occured around the same time, and is likely linked to agriculture’s beginnings in the early Neolithic. Good outcomes and ill occur oftentimes under the same conditions.

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