ANT E105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Sickle-Cell Disease, Social Evolution, Mesoamerica
Document Summary
Two forms of a gene: dominant and recessive. One of each (heterozygous) = nonlethal sickle-cell syndrome. Heterozygous form (hba + hbs) produces a phenotype resistant to malaria. Fitness is relative: better sick than dead. Humans change their environments, environments change humans. This process is mediated by social and cultural factors. Productive landscapes that produce more mosquitoes, for example. Similarities in histories of different peoples with no contact irrigation/agriculture in middle east and mesoamerica (video on 4/14) Natural selection based in diversity within populations and the fitness of individuals. Social change based in organization of groups of people and technological innovation in relation to environment. Culture is a central part of: the way humans relate to their environment the way humans act and organize socially. Long-term changes in technology and design, or written records. The people of puerto rico (c. 1950)
