On Wed, 16 Jan 2002 11:21:21 +1100 Richard Archer <[log in to unmask]>
writes:

> Surely this damages the claim that modern humans are genetically
> identical to our 40,000 year old ancestors. Here we have a specific
> adaptation to a food which has evolved independently in at least
> three cultures.

I have never seen that particular claim.  The claim is that there has
been insufficient time for the majority of humans to adapt to the
"technological" diet.  There has obviously been SOME adaptation in
general, and some more dramatic adaptations in specific groups.  However,
comparing "adaptation" to lactose, with any possible adaptation to
completely foreign foods such as grains hardly seems appropriate.

After all, digestion of lactose is NORMAL for human infants.  Adapting to
the point of REATAINING this natural capacity is hardly comparable to
developing the abilities to handle completely foreign foods which were
never eaten by humans...
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