Down With Darwinism?

Charles Darwin 

If Charles Darwin, back in 1859, could have seen 160 years into the future, he would be a very confused man. It was in 1859 that Darwin released his book, On The Origin of Species, which detailed his theory of evolution by natural selection. However, as the years have progressed, humans have consistently improved medication and technology to a point where many diseases or ailments that would have killed off our jungle dwelling ancestors can no longer affect us. Drugs like insulin, antibiotics, and similar compounds are able to prevent many diseases thus allowing those who are not necessarily fit for an environment to survive. Modern day humans have survived eating laundry detergent, blowing off limbs with fireworks, and various firearm mishaps, all of which would have eliminated our ancestors. Because of such advancements, many scientists have begun to question if the human species (Homo Sapiens for my fancy lads) is still evolving?

 As we have seen with developing technologies such as CRISPR, Humans have the ability to not only maintain life despite damaging diseases but actually have the ability to eliminate and alter certain traits prior to leaving the womb. This may lead one to say that it is competitive with the idea of Natural Selection as it inhibiting genotypic variation. Right?

The pesky lactose molecule which demonstrates modern evolution

This isn’t necessarily the case, in fact, some scientists propose that rather than evolution slowing down, the process is speeding up significantly. Nonetheless, of what scientists may speculate, the data shows that evolution is still occurring throughout our populations. These changes can be seen through dietary traits and phenotypic variations. In the case of dietary traits, lactose intolerance is put in the spotlight. Lactose intolerance is the inability of an organism (in this case humans) to break down the lactose molecule (a sugar). This trait in itself expresses the continuation of the evolutionary process as certain populations became more reliant on the ability to digest lactose and, therefore, in such populations (even today) individuals that reside in these areas tend to carry a genomic variation that allows for the digestion of lactose. As well, phenotypic variations like hair color, eye color, and height are all very prominent examples of how evolution is still occurring. The case of hair and skin color, these traits are selected for based on location. In environments in which there is a high exposure (eg. Africa, the Middle East), darker skin is selected for whereas environments further from the equator select for lighter skin as not as much melanin is needed to block UV rays. You can learn more about this here

     Although humans are still seen to undergo evolution by natural selection, who knows. Maybe by the year 2050, we will be birthing super babies capable of grand things.

FYI: If you have some time check out the Darwin Awards, you won't regret it :)

Below are some top natural selection memes to brighten your day: