Natural Selection Accelerated in Humans Over Last 10,000 Years, Study Finds

A study published April 15 in Nature analyzed DNA from nearly 16,000 West Eurasian individuals, revealing 479 alleles under directional selection over the past 10,000 years. Researchers developed a new computational method to distinguish selection from migration effects. Favored traits include light skin, red hair, lower male-pattern baldness, and reduced alcoholism risk. Selection accelerated after the shift to farming, contrary to earlier assumptions. Co-author Ali Akbari of Harvard University noted that directional selection accounted for only 2% of gene frequency changes. Some scientists, like Sasha Gusev of Harvard Medical School, caution about the statistical methods. The findings may inform gene therapy development and can be applied to other populations and species.