Studies into the evolution of different homo-sapiens in different locations could show the future of human health and vaccinations, according to Professor Luke O’Neill.A new study using DNA from people in Papua New Guinea revealed certain variances in genes were more common in these areas.“All genes have slight differences,” he said. “but we have these differences – evolution has built this in.
In the mountains, a variant developed that increased red blood cell count helped them to cope with the altitude. “The ones who had them could survive and that offspring, the descendants of those people, are the ones that were analysed.”Another group in the jungle, on the other hand, evolved to develop an important gene called GBP-2.
“In the jungles of Papua, New Guinea, when humans arrived there... there was a 40% mortality from infectious diseases in those jungles,” Prof O’Neill said.“You have a cut in your hand, and it gets infected, it gets all inflamed because an inflammation brings in the immune system.”These new revelations from 50,000 years ago could create new possibilities for future science, according to Prof O’Neill, particularly the gene GBP-2.