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Are humans still evolving?
What is evolution?
The change of a species over time.
This change through random variation and
natural selection has lead to the diversity of
life on Earth.
What is natural selection?
Natural selection is the process by which
heritable traits that make it more likely for an
organism to survive and successfully
reproduce become more common in a
population over successive generations.
Natural selection has been the main
mechanism by which evolution has
happened.
Geoffrey Miller, University of New Mexico
“In the future humans will be more
beautiful, intelligent, symmetrical,
healthy and emotionally stable due to
40 generations of genetic engineering
and screening”
Steve Jones, University College London
“Human evolution is over. Human
social change often changes our
genetic future. In ancient times half
our children would have died by the
age of twenty. Now, in the western
world, 98% of them are surviving to
21”
Scientific controversy
The scientific community is undecided over
the future of human evolution.
Scientists have a range of varying
opinions on the future of human evolution.
Human social and environmental change
In the last 40,000 years humans have
changed the environment significantly which
has influenced natural selection pressures on
us.
Activity
Is natural selection still influencing human
evolution?
Task one:
Read out the statements and decide whether it
supports the idea that natural selection is still
influencing human evolution?
Activity
Task two:
In your group identify the key features that
influence our present evolution?
Activity
Task three:
Decide in your groups the key future
characteristics of humans?
If you want to find out more?
Are human beings still evolving? Gresham College
Lecture. Speaker Professor Christopher Dye.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&Ev
entId=853
Are we still evolving? 2006, By Kate Douglas. New
Scientist
www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925421.300-arewe-still-evolving.html