...SCIENCE The Evolution of Human Skin Color by Annie Prud’homme-Généreux Life Sciences Quest University, Canada Part I Skin Cancer “Stop it!” called Tatiana, playfully. Her boyfriend, Zach, was inspecting her skin very carefully. “Look,” he answered her, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “Today a woman walked into the clinic for her annual physical. Everything about her seemed ne. She leads a balanced lifestyle, she eats well, she exercises: she’s healthy! But as she was about to leave, I noticed a mole on her arm. It had many of the warning signs of skin cancer. So, I removed the mole. is woman now has to wait for the lab results to see if it was cancerous. If it is, maybe we caught it early enough to treat it, and maybe not. Either way, her life is changed. I just want to make sure you don’t have any suspicious moles, okay?” Tatiana relented and allowed Zach to examine her skin. She asked: “Do only white people get skin cancer?” “No, people of all skin tone can get skin cancer, but it does occur more frequently in Caucasians.” Questions 1. What are the causes of skin cancer? 2. Why are Caucasians more at risk of skin cancer than other populations? 3. At what age does skin cancer typically occur? Is the incidence of skin cancer greater in youth or old age? “ e Evolution of Human Skin Color” by Annie Prud’homme-Généreux Page NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE Part II Skin Pigmentation and UV Light Why are human populations di erently...
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...Old Dominion University Human Adaptation and Variation Alyssa Carlson 01005378 ANTR 110S_10772 Dr. Elva Smith 24 November 2014 Human biological diversity encompasses much more than the characteristics seen by the naked eye. Our species walked new and unique paths to arrive at our present existence. Our journey resulted in the achievement of many innovative and unique physiognomies allowing us to survive and reproduce. What characteristics have our species evolved and which most greatly shaped our evolution by conferring additional advantages in survivorship? Although there are many remarkable characteristics that have evolved the most striking variance and adaptation amongst the human population is variation in skin color. The fascination lies in the fact that for centuries the human body has used continuing adaptation to protect humans in different ways such as disease and protection from the sun. Scientists have made considerable progress in explaining variation in human skin color, along with many other features of biological and genetic diversity. Diversities of skin color are a result of natural selection. Over periods of time, adaptation has allowed the favored types to survive by natural selection. In addition, the color of one’s skin goes well beyond the surface as a result of geographic distribution. With years of struggle against nature behind us, human bodies have acclimated to...
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...unique due to its concerning human nature which is broken down into four different subfields. The four major fields are Biological, Cultural, Linguistic and Archaeology anthropology all four fields have a very diverse approach to the study of humans. For example Cultural anthropologist are more focused on things like social and religious beliefs within the human species. While Biological (Physical) anthropologist are interested in the evolution of humans. Linguistic anthropologist study languages within the human’s species. And lastly Archaeology anthologists studies humans by fossil remains. While even though all four sub fields study the human with different approaches they all still use a scientific method in their researches to study human kind. I’m a primate. You’re a primate everyone reading this is a primate. We hear humans are primates, but what does that mean that humans are ancestors to apes? No not exactly it just means that we share similar traits with primates such as apes and chimpanzees. According to the Smithsonian magazine “humans share more DNA with lemurs, monkeys, and apes than they do with any other mammals.” Carl Linnaeus was the first to classify humans with monkeys and apes in his 18th century taxonomic system. So now that we know that we similar apes what traits do we really share. Well first vision humans an apes can both see color. The ability to stand upright while humans always walk on 2 legs so can apes. Both humans an apes share the same diet...
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...ancestors took as they left or stayed in Africa between 60 and 125 thousand years ago. However, other markers of these unique evolutionary histories are perfectly obvious, perhaps most notably skin color. It's clear that people whose ancestors hail from different parts of the earth have differently colored skin and that this is related to how much of the sun's radiation hits that part of the planet. The less radiation, the lighter the native population's skin color tends to be. This is a great example of recent evolution in human populations. But what if we go back deeper in our evolutionary history, back to when all of humanity lived in Africa? At that time, all humans had darkly pigmented skin. A new study sheds light on how and why this skin pigmentation evolved. Where's the evolution? Humans have different skin colors because we have different amounts and kinds of the pigment melanin in our skin. Our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, have pale skin without melanin underneath their dark fur, and almost certainly the ancestor that we share with chimps did too. So how did the early members of the human branch of the tree of life get from hair-covered light skin to hairless dark skin? Researchers have many competing hypotheses about what sort of natural selection caused dark skin to evolve. In all of these hypotheses, the notion of evolutionary fitness is important. In evolutionary terms, fitness indicates not how physically fit or healthy an organism is but how...
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...Evolving from primates to humans took millions of years. Until the mid-1800s, many believed humans were a product of Intelligent Design. Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel’s theories of evolution and genetics were a breakthrough in the scientific community and are still praised for their efforts to this day. From 1831-1836, Darwin went to the Galapagos islands and found that the finches there had various beak sizes, which led to his discovery of natural selection. Mendel bred thousands of pea plants to find correlation in traits between parent plants and their offspring, which is now known as heredity. Mendel’s genetics filled in the holes in Darwin’s theory and vice versa. Natural selection is a process that uses adaptations and mutations for...
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...I. Human Adaptability Anthropology is the exploration of human diversity in time and space. Anthropology studies the whole of the human condition: past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture. Of particular interest is the diversity that comes through human adaptability. A. Adaptation, Variation, and Change 1. Adaptation refers to the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses. 2. Humans use both biological and cultural means of adaptation. For example, human bodies can adapt biologically in three ways to high altitude: genetic adaptation, long-term physiological adaptation, and short-term physiological adaptation. Culturally, humans have developed technologies, such as pressurized airplane cabins equipped with oxygen masks, to deal with extreme environments. 3. As human history has unfolded, the social and cultural means of adaptation have become increasingly important. Much more recently, the spread of industrial production has profoundly affected human life. II. General Anthropology B. The academic discipline of anthropology, also known as general anthropology or "four-field" anthropology, includes four main subdisciplines or subfields. They are sociocultural, archaeological, biological, and linguistic anthropology. This four-field approach is distinctly American. 4. There are historical reasons for the inclusion of four subfields in a single disciple, with origins...
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...Evolution VS Creation Faith Collins Honors Biology 4/22/2014 For over the past one hundred and fifty years there has been an ongoing battle about evolution versus creation. Evolutionists believe we evolved over millions and millions of years; while creationists believe that God created us and the rest of the world in seven days. Both theories do seem quit absurd. People think there is no possible way we could have evolved from nothing. Still, other people believe there is no possible way God could have created us. Charles Darwin was a British scientist and the founder of evolutionism. Darwin was born and raised in a wealthy and well connected family. He started his higher education studying medicine, but half way through transferred to divinity at Cambridge. In 1831, he joined a five year scientific expedition. On this expedition he started studying and observing things, and thus the idea of evolution was born. Evolution is the theory that everything descended from a common ancestor. Everything that has life, trees, flowers, bears, fish, humans – they’re all related. Charles Darwin, the founder of evolution, believed strongly in natural selection. He thought that animals, by natural selection, could practically change into a whole new species of animals. Darwin stated that this process takes long periods of time. He said it can’t just happen overnight, rather it takes millions of years for this to take place. Evolution, just like creation, is considered...
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...Evolution Of Skin Colour | Adv Bio 11 | Maggie Gagnon Courtney Sibley | What are the causes of skin cancer? Some causes of skin cancer are over explosion to UV light, moles, as well it can be passed on hereditarily. Why are Caucasians more at risk of skin cancer than other populations? Caucasians have the lowest amount of melanin in their skin cells when being compared to other cultures. Melanin is crucial to protecting our skin from UV rays, and so someone with a darker skin tone is better protected. At what age does skin cancer typically occur? Is the incidence of skin cancer greater in youth or old age? Generally skin cancer is more predominant to youth aged 20-30. Does the amount of UV light reaching the Earth vary in a predictable manner? If so, describe the pattern you observe. By looking at the map, you can tell that areas where the earth is closer to the sun had a higher UV index, where as the places that are farther away (ie Antarctica) have a lower UV index. What latitude receives the greatest amount of UV light? The least? The highest amount of UV could be found across the equator (0 longitude) the least could be found from 60-90 and -70-(-90) longitude. Based on these data, where might you expect to find the most lightly pigmented and most darkly pigmented people on the planet? Be as specific as you can. The more naturally light people would be found in the far north or far south, the more naturally dark people would be found...
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...the dangers entailed Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. It is the abnormal growth of cells in the skin. There are two different types of skin cancers: Melanomas and non-melanomas. Most skin cancers are the non-melanoma type. There are two main types of non-melanoma skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Most non-melanoma skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma. It can damage deeper tissues, such as muscles and bones. It almost never spreads to other parts of the body. Squamous cell carcinoma however, is less common. It often develops from a small rough spot that grows into sun damaged skin and can sometimes spread to other parts of the body. Non-melanoma skin cancer is usually caused by too much sun. Using tanning beds or sunlamps too much can also cause it. There are other types of skin cancer that are non-melanoma but these are much less common - they include Merkel cell carcinoma and several kinds of sarcomas. Melanomas often resemble moles; some develop from moles. The majority of melanomas are black or brown, but they can also be skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV exposure, frequently leading to sunburn, especially in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Melanoma kills an estimated 8,790 people in the US every year. Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, is responsible for more than 80 percent of all skin cancer deaths and spreads...
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...among Humans Mutation A gene mutation is an irreversible change in the sequence of DNA which a gene is made up of. After mutation, the sequence becomes different from that found in most human beings. Mutations are a result of damage to DNA during replication or to the genomes of RNA usually caused by chemical mutagens or radiation. Mutations in genes can either have no effect, alter the product of a gene, or prevent the gene from functioning properly or completely. Mutations can also occur in non-genic regions. Mutations in sex cells can be transmitted to the next generation; mutations in other cells cannot be transmitted. The effects of mutation may be beneficial, harmful or neutral. The DNA fails to copy correctly thus leading to gene mutation. Harmful Mutations Harmful mutations result in severe consequences on the health of the person. Some examples of harmful mutations are as follows: 1. Sickle Cell Anemia It is an example of natural harmful mutation existing in human beings. It is a...
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...What is Anthropology??? • • • 20:41 Anthropology • Scientific Approach, OBJECTIVE • Study of Humankind- human groups • Seeks to produce useful GENERALIZATIONS about people and their BEHAVIORS • To arrive at an UNBIASED UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN DIVERSITY • Only scientific discipline that attempts to embrace an understanding of all of humanity • Helps us understand ourselves an others Anthropology Perspectives • Holistic Approach (broadest view) o To view things in the broadest possible contest o To cover the whole scope of humanity o To provide a total or composite view o Human culture as a system, functional whole, all parts relate o Biocultural Perspective Studies both the PHYSICAL and SOCIAL EX: kuru disease (neurological disease)- disease caused by culture, transmitted by mortuary practices • Cultural Relativism o To view the beliefs and customs of other peoples within the context of their culture not one’s own o Practice of not judging other cultures based on the standards of one’s own culture o ENDOCENTRISM Group centeredness Tendency to see ones own culture as the center of everything The measure or standard against which all other lifeways are evaluated Tendency to consider ones own culture as superior or better than all others o Anthropologists must be unbiased, objective o Involves an effort to remain unbiased in ones observations o Acknowledges that cultures are DIFFERENT, but NOT RANKED o No right or wrong cultures...
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...Where did blue eyes com from? Blue eyes is the result evolution. Darwin thought us that mutations that result in a big change in our phenotype is either a benefit for the population and therefore the trait is passed on to offsprings or the mutation has a negative effect on the population and that is a lethal factor. Their is also a third effect of mutation where it is neither positive or negative. Eye colors will fall into that last category as well as mutation like, hair color, baldness, freckles and beauty spots which neither increases nor reduces a human’s chance of survival. It is only the result of nature that is shuffling the human genome, creating a genetic cocktail of human chromosomes and trying out different changes. Because of the humongous amount of information that our DNA carries, scientist were able to identify that people with blue eyes share the exact same DNA difference that causes their blue eyes. This mutation can be retrace about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago in Europe. This is why we can find that mostly Europeans will have blue eyes. This is due to common ancestors. Professor Hans Eiberg from the Department of cellular and Molecular Medicine said that « Originally, we all had brown eyes ». Approximatively 16 genes will be responsible for eye color in humans; however their is two main genes that are associated with eye color mutation and both of them are localized in Chromosome 15.Those genes also called P protein are involved in the production of melanin...
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...about the human race, where they both expressed a valid concern about its genetic future. However, they used two different approaches to prove their theories. The Dalai Lama, in 2005, wrote the book, The Universe in a Single Atom. In his chapter “Ethics and the New Genetics” Gyatso focuses on the benefits of genetic engineering and its enormous potential, while warning us of its harmful consequences. In contrast, but yet pursuing the same point, Steve Olson in his book “Mapping Human History” (2002) and the chapter “The End of Race: Hawaii and the Mixing of Peoples” traces the differences and similarities between people of various races and ethnicity. He uses the frequencies of genetic mutations in the mitochondria, migration from one continent to another and racially mixed populations where the target is the mostly American state of Hawaii. Should the world be concerned about the end of singular genetic ethnicity of each race? And is it going to happen? Race most likely will disappear as we now know. It seems to have been defined as two general groups-white and black, distinct from one another by only color of complexion. The white race will not be truly white, the black race will not be truly black, and the brown, yellow and red races will not be truly genetically ethnic either. What does race actually mean? According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the definition of race is “one of the main groups that humans can be divided into according to the color of their...
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...believed to come from their ancestors. As a result to this, people then think that race is a matter of bloodlines, it is biologically passed down from ones parents. Jenell Paris suggests that race is actually a socially constructed phenomenon, a way to categorize people for social purposes based on one’s physical appearance and differences. (Priest, Robert J.2007) Many do not realize this. Most people do not know that race is a social reality, they believe that it is a biological reality. The way race should be seen is that is just plainly does not exist. The human species evolved from the people in Africa. The migrated to different parts of the world and the geographical environment causes us to have varies physical traits. These differences in appearance are due to mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift (Fisher, Jefferson1995). Because the environments where drastically different in these geographic regions, the human traits changed for...
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