Chapter Thirteen, Pre-History
Ridley describes the relationship between the development of Indo-European and other ancient root languages and the classical polymorphisms which map genetic frequencies in Eurasia. The interplay between the breast cancer genes BRCA2 on chromosome 13 and BRCA1 on chromosome 17 help to illustrate these larger concepts. Ridley also describes genetic studies of different types of peoples to isolate why people developed a mutation allowing adults to digest lactase in adulthood. He concludes that since the herding tribes of the world all evolved this mutation earliest, these people's genes adapted to their environment. In a twisted way, this perhaps sounds like the theories of Larmarck who suggested that the blacksmith's beefy strong arms were 'handed down' to his children directly. The controversial conclusion is that willed action can alter our evolutionary history and genetic composition.
Read more about this topic: Genome (book)
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