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Mollusc_Memes t1_ivfnv3g wrote

Reply to comment by iayork in We know about viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms evolving to better infect other organisms. Consequently, diseases change too to some extent. Are there any examples of human bodies evolving to fight against these disease causing agents? by ha_ha_ha_ha_hah

Interesting. As a follow up question, is this fast evolution of immunity genes the reason why immunity to different diseases is one of the few significant differences between ethnic groups?

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__shamir__ t1_ivfp4ij wrote

I think it's less about the speed of the evolution per se versus the different selection pressures. For example black people are far more likely than other races to have alleles for sickle cell anemia, because while two recessive copies produces sickle cell anemia, a single recessive allele produces only minor impairments in blood cell efficiency but massive improvements in malarial resistance.

(Note I prefer using the term race rather than ethnicity when talking about these thinks, because the concept of race correlates a bit better to genetics than ethnicity. Both are arbitrary social constructs, as everything in life is, but ethnicity has more to do with identity than it does raw physical similarity)

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