wow,

I really did not intend to ruffle anyones feathers with this post. My reason for opening this discussion was to get some creative juices flowing and have failed in that. I did not intend to propose a solution or to say "one thing is thus, and another thing is not." I was simply looking at friends and family and asking what one might see if he/she were able to extrapolate a curve over all of mans existence to a particular allele for the lactase enzyme. Is there a trend of humans selecting for lactase or not. When a colleague proposes a question, in my experience, it is intended to start an open ended discussion, which might lead to some new knowledge on both partie's side.

Interesting article. Being a science major myself, I definitely understand the importance of strictly following the scientific method. What I would like to point out in addition to the article is that some of these "pseudo sciences" we call them might actually have strong correlation data to support their claims. I believe that sometimes that is where the media and non-science study people get tricked into trusting these "sciences" In order to make an empirical claim that one variable caused a definite change in another, we must conduct an experiment following the scientific method. There is not enough room on this post to accurately describe that process. At least with any degree of justice. I want to say more must alas a family meal is calling. I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas and remember a scientist is a skeptic. He/She must be.

So, I just finished my biology 1 course and was thinking about different enzyme deficiencies. I was pondering if the over the macro expression of the human genome we are becoming more or less intolerant to lactose sugar. I guess my question is if the allele is being selected for lactose breakdown or if through natural selection it is not being selected for. It seems that are species is one of only a few species (that I know of) which have the ability to correctly digest lactose after weening. If lactase is not produced after this weening in some individuals, then maybe the genome as a whole might not be selecting for lactase expression. A definite caveat to this though is that for a small part of our existence we have been culturing and refining foods which require lactase to digest, so maybe the genome is actually selecting for lactase production and the ones who are lactose intolerant have not received that allele just yet. What do you think?

hmmm politics thread. That sounds just about as much fun as laying on a bed of nails at the bottom of a snake pit right after overdosing on some nitro. Hi BDBoop :)