Genetics research sheds light on evolution of the human diet

February 14, 2009

By hammersmith

[Source: ScienceDaily] – Diet – and how it has shaped our genome – occupies much of an evolutionary scientist’s time. Anne Stone, associate professor of anthropology in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, will discuss how diet holds keys to understanding who we are, how we live and form societies, and how we evolved from hunter-gatherers to agriculturists, all the way to modern urban dwellers, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.

Her seminar is entitled “Genetic Perspectives on the Evolution of Human Diets.”

Researchers like Stone look to our closest relatives – the chimpanzee and other primates – for comparisons to humans in order to understand the unique development of the human body and how it is impacted by diseases and the environment.

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