We use more sugar than ever, at least according to what I read and hear. The question is, is our body still evolving, and if so, will the human body be able to cope with the sugars better and better?
Same with smoking. Are the lungs of humans changed by smoking from generation to generation? Can the lungs not cope better after a few centuries?
Answer
Our body is still evolving from generation to generation, but the natural selection pressure has decreased greatly, partly due to modern medicine. With a strong selection pressure, people who can’t tolerate sugar well would also die, leaving only people who can tolerate sugar well. In that case, we would be able to process sugar better in the long run, but this is not the case now. There are all kinds of sugar-related diseases, such as diabetes, but usually these patients survive, so that their genes also remain in the population. Smokers also have a higher risk of lung cancer and have a greater chance of dying from it, but also often survive or have children before they die of lung cancer, so that their genes also remain present in the population. So I don’t think that in the long run we would be better able to tolerate sugar or smoking, or it would take much longer than a few centuries.
© Photo: AJ Cann
Answered by
Dorien Van de Wouwer
Plant biotechnology: cell walls and bioethanol
http://www.ugent.be
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