Ancient Teeth Bacteria Record Disease Evolution

An anonymous reader writes "DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has shed light on the health consequences of the evolving diet and behavior from the Stone Age to the modern day. The ancient genetic record reveals the negative changes in oral bacteria brought about by the dietary shifts as humans became farmers, and later with the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution."

Re: humans

[Anonymous Coward]

Weston A. Price already did. Check out 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration' for a first hand account of what happens when previously 'primitive' societies are introduced to refined flour and sugar.

"anonymous reader" = blog spammer

[1u3hr]

The source, not linked in TFA, is Adelaide University: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news59301.html [adelaide.edu.au]

Link to the source, not some asshole plagiarising it to get ad hits.

Evolutionary Advantage of Human Longevity

[InterGuru]

Most mammals live for a billion (10^9) heartbeats, humans live about 60 years, twice as long. One theory is the Grandmother Effect [theatlantic.com]. That is having older women share the burden of childrearing aided in the children's survival.

In the 1980s, Kristen Hawkes and James O'Connell spent time with Hadza hunter-gatherers. They noticed that the older women in the society spent their days collecting tubers and other food for their grandchildren. That was the proverbial fallen apple that sparked Hawkes' interest in the Grandmother Theory, which says that humans evolved to live so long because grandmothers were around to help take care of the young'uns.