Question

Briefly explain how the evolution of the sickle cell allele is an example of human biocultural evolution

Answer 1

1] Sickle cell trait describes a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene (is heterozygous), but does not display the severe symptoms of sickle cell disease that occur in a person who has two copies of that allele (is homozygous).

Biocultural evolution refers to the notion that there is an interplay of biological and cultural factors that shape and react to evolutionary changes. This can be seen in numerous ways: Culture may lead to evolutionary/biological adaptations. Evolution might also influence culture. A gene known as HbS was the center of a medical and evolutionary detective story that began in the middle 1940s in Africa. Doctors noticed that patients who had sickle cell anemia, a serious hereditary blood disease, were more likely to survive malaria, a disease that kills some 1.2 million people every year.

Sickle Cell Anemia is an example of biocultural evolution because human cultural activity was the cause of people's genetic change. People in West Africa developed a new subsistence practice that produced more food by clearing land and planting crops. Other cultural factors range from racism to mixology.

Selection favoring the sickling allele is an example of biocultural evolution. Human culture altered the environment, which resulted in factors that were advantageous to both the malarial microorganisms and the mosquitoes that transmit them between people. The sequence of events apparently began about 2000 years ago with the introduction into Africa of Southeast Asian root and tree crops that were adapted to the humid tropics. This resulted in an agricultural revolution and a subsequent human population explosion in sub-Saharan Africa.