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Human Molecular Genetics 2007 16(R2):R134-R139; doi:10.1093/hmg/ddm242
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© 2007 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Challenges in human genetic diversity: demographic history and adaptation

Patricia L. Balaresque, Stéphane J. Ballereau and Mark A. Jobling*

Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +44 01162523427; Fax: +44 01162523378; Email: maj4{at}le.ac.uk

Received August 14, 2007; Revised August 14, 2007; Accepted August 22, 2007

Modern human genetic diversity is the result of demographic history, and selective effects that have acted to adapt different populations to their environments. Broad patterns of global diversity are well explained by geography, based on an out-of-Africa model of early human evolution. Genome-wide searches for signals of selection, plus studies of specific candidate loci and candidate phenotypes, have identified genes that show population differences due to adaptation to pathogens, climate, diet and possibly cognitive challenges. Some past adaptations are now maladaptive, and can lead to disease. However, the history of adaptation is complex, and adaptive explanations are often unsupported by hard evidence.


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