Scientists find ‘subtle signal’ that Alzheimer’s will eventually be eradicated by natural selection
Study of 150,000 Americans finds that certain diseases have decline in the space of a few generations
ALZHEIMER’S could be bred out of the human race in the future thanks to natural selection, scientists claimed.
The illness – and others such as Asthma and high cholesterol - could be erased from the gene pool within a few thousand years, they said.
Researchers analysed the genetic blueprints of 150,000 Americans and discovered variations in the illnesses have declined in the space of just two generations.
It’s thought men with Alzheimer’s tend to have fewer children, while both men and women with illness are unable to help look after their grandchildren meaning their children may have less children of their own.
The study was conducted by researchers at Cambridge and Columbia Universities and was published in the journal PLOS Biology.
Evolutionary geneticist at Columbia University, Joseph Pickrell, said: “It’s a subtle signal but we find genetic evidence that natural selection is happening in modern human populations.”