Are human beings still evolving?
Writing in Scientific American, Cornell University anthropologist Professor Meredith Small says some scientists theorise that because geographic isolation is one of the traditional mechanisms for triggering the rise of new species, then human evolution has ended because in the modern world no one is reallyisolated from
the rest of humanity.
Other scientists argue that because evolution is defined as a change in gene frequencies over time, that is, over generations, there will be changes in the gene pool as people live and people die with some people passing on more genes than others.
For example the relatively low birth rate of more developed countries compared with developing countries means that in theory people in places with higher birth rates, such as Africa, Asia and Latin America, could contribute more genes to the gene pool than people in Europe or New Zealand.
Culture, development and medicine might change the tenor of the human gene pool, Professor Small said, but they do not take away the force of evolution, the force of change.
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