Humans Haven't Stopped Evolving
Geneticists have discovered that human evolution has accelerated over the past 10,000 years, contradicting previous beliefs that natural selection had slowed down. By analyzing ancient DNA from thousands of samples, researchers identified significant genetic shifts that occurred more rapidly in the last 5,000 years than in the preceding period.
Why it matters
This research fundamentally changes our understanding of human biological history and suggests that civilization has not removed humans from the influence of natural selection.
During the last 50,000 years, human beings have transformed from nomadic hunter-gatherers roaming savannas to a species that traveled to the moon, invented the internet, and created an artificial form of intelligence. Yet many scientists believed that, during the same time frame, human DNA hadn’t changed much. Most research during the past two decades hinted that human evolution has largely slowed or changed so subtly that existing tools couldn’t detect it; evidence seemed to suggest that civilization put humans beyond the reach of natural selection.
The article reports on scientific findings published in a peer-reviewed journal without political or ideological framing.
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