Evolution in action: Three real human mutations.....

We've all seen X-men, and we all know mutation doesn't work like that.

Ok, most of us realise that it doesn't work like that, although some of my more hardcore gaming friends seem to be living in hope.

And hope is beautiful thing. So what can we do to help hope along, and keep my friends safely away from the kitchen knives?

We can find out if there are any real mutations that have given people some kind of advantage.

And, oddly enough, I found that there are........

3: Werefolf syndrome / Hypertrichosis.

True, being really hairy isn't a huge advantage in the modern world.

In fact, for most sufferers of this disorder, it's a tragedy - imagine having to go to school with this condition:



But imagine that some of the scarier predictions about climate change come true. We find our selves facing a sudden ice age. Thirty degrees Celsius below zero becomes a normal winter. A hairier human being suddenly becomes a warmer human being, and today's illness has become tomorrow's next evolutionary step.....

2: Extra sweat glands

Just a face in the crowd? There are people walking around today with minor, but real, 'mutant powers'.

 

How about mutations that help to deal with heat? Thirty thousand years ago, as the ancestors of modern Asians moved into warmer climes, a mutation that caused extra sweat glands became all the evolutionary rage. Extra sweat glands keep you cooler, and the guys born with this mutation were more immune to heatstroke as a result...

1: Lactose tolerance

Or 'being able to drink milk'. Now it might be a surprise, but most of the human race can't digest milk very well. The ability to do so is a mutation, and it's only been around for seven thousand years. And, while it's a small thing, it is a significant advantage. If you can digest milk then you have access to a source of fats, protein, and vitamins that others don't. Not only that but it's a source that keeps producing more of itself, can be gotten from a dozen mammal species, and so is unlikely to run out.

 

Yes, if you can drink milk without an upset tummy then you have a mutant power: The mutant ability to suck on daisy here's teats. I'm not joking, that's basically the ability that the mutation for lactose tolerance gives you.

 

Isn't nature fun?

This very minor advantage is a typical example of evolution in action - small changes, that over time can build into a significant advantage.....