Revealed an unexpected influence of climate on the human body
Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania found that the shape of the nose in different human populations is the result of the influence of climatic conditions. Article researchers published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Experts have analyzed the size and shape of the nose of people living in West Africa, South Asia and Northern Europe. They found that the difference in these indicators among the studied populations was too big to it could be explained by chance. In addition, wide nostrils were characteristic of those people whose ancestors lived in hot environments, with high content of water vapor in the air.
However, the researchers suggest that additional factors such as cultural preferences when choosing a partner, also played a role in the formation of the nose. In addition, the importance of genetic drift — the phenomenon in which randomly changes the frequency of alleles of one or more genes.
In the future scientists want to find out, does the shape of the nose and size of nasal cavity on the risk of infection by pathogens of respiratory infections when the person for a long time in conditions that differ from those in which his ancestors lived.
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