Gene mutation helps fight malaria

[bonkers325]

A gene mutation that arose thousands of years ago now protects hundreds of millions of people from severe malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that is the world?s deadliest infection.

Link

 

[thraashman]

Jeez man how many new threads are you gonna start. there are at least 4 on the 1st page right now.

 

[Elledan]

You gotta love evolution

 

[Belegost]

Strangely enough, this has been known for centuries. West African slaves were used most frequently in the sugar plantations of the Carribean because of their natural resistance to malaria.

 

[Sciolist]

Sickle cell anemia genes are also protective against malaria, see link.

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

Sickle cell has been known for a long time. It shows that mutations can have deleterious and beneficial effects depending on your environment.

 

[syzygy]

five and six hundred years ago, it was the threat of malaria that held off european explorers from penetrating deeper into the hinterlands of africa. unlike their successes in the americas, where the diseases they introduced devestated the indigenous peoples, africa had waiting a number
of scourges which europeans had not developed any natural defenses against. malaria, yellow
fever, some pestilence passed on by the tse-tse fly (possibly a different strain of yellow fever) and a host of other diseases. africa could be as anglicized today as south america is
if not for those alien viruses the europeans could not defend against.