TessMosley

APSeminar
White
September112015
LactasePersistence
(notaineffectivehookbutwhatisabetterwaytoalertyourreaderstothe
severityofthisissue?)Lactoseintoleranceistheinabilitytodigestthesugarlactose,
whichisfoundinmilk.Asinfants,mammalsbreakdownlactoseintogalactoseand
glucose,whicharesugarsthatcanbeusedasenergy,withtheenzymelactase.The
productionoflactaseiscontrolledbythegeneLCTandoccursinthesmallintestine.In
mostmammals,theLCTgeneshutsoffafterweaning,however,adecreaseinthe
productionoflactaseonlyoccursinapproximately65%ofhumans,accordingtothe
GeneticsHomeReference(LactoseIntolerance).Theother35%havetheabilitytodigest
lactosewellintoadulthood,whichisreferredtoaslactasepersistence.Thisleadsmanyto
questionwhatleadtotheabilitytodigestlactosepastinfancy.
Lactasepersistencefirstoccurredapproximatelyninethousandyearsagointhe
MiddleEast,accordingtoDr.SarahA.Tishkoff,aDavidandLynSilfenUniversity
ProfessorinGeneticsandBiologyattheUniversityofPennsylvania(Tishkoff).Itthen
spreadupintoEurope,reachedAfricathreetoseventhousandyearsago,anditdidnot
reachsouthoftheSaharaDesertuntilapproximatelytwothousandyearsago(Tishkoff)..
Thisdistributioncorrespondswiththepresenceofcattleherdersatthetime.However,

themutationthatwasfoundinWesternEuropeanswasdifferentthanthemutationfound
inAfricans(Tishkoff).Nowaddtheanalysis.Sowhatregardingthisclaim.
ThemutationthatcauseslactasepersistenceisnotfoundintheLCTgene,but
insteadfoundacouplethousandnucleotidesup.Thedifferencebetweenlactose
intoleranceandlactasepersistenceisasinglenucleotidefoundontheMCM6
gene(LactoseIntolerance).Becausetherearemultiplevariationsofthemutationitis
believedthatWesternEuropeansandAfricansdevelopedthistraitseparatelyfromeach
other.Tishkoffstatesthatthefrequencyoflactasepersistenceintheseareasoccurred
throughnaturalselection,whichmeansthattherewereobviousbenefitsofdrinkingmilk
(Tishkoff).
(Needatransition)AccordingtoClareHoldenandRuthMace(timeandspace),
therearethreemajorhypothesesregardingwhylactasepersistencebecametheselected
trait(HoldenandMace).Thefirsttheoryisthatmilkconsumptionwasselectedduetothe
pastoralistculture.Theabilitytobreakdownlactoseallowedindividualstodraw
nutrientsfrommilk,whichplayedamajorroleintheirculture.Thistheoryissupported
byastudydonebytheInternationalLivestockResearchInstituteinSudan,whichshows
thatmodernpastoralistsfill25%oftheircaloricneedswithmilk,theremainderbeing
filledbymeatandgrain(Kerven).Fortheindividualswhocouldnotdigestlactose,milk
wouldhavebeennutritionallydetrimentalduetodiarrhoea,andwouldhavecaused
abdominaldiscomfort.Thesecondtheoryfocusesonfreshmilk.Itsuggeststhatinplaces
withhighlatitude,theconsumptionofmilkincreasedduetolackofvitaminD.Lactose
promotestheabsorptionofcalcium,replacingtheneedforanabundanceofsunlight.This

wouldexplaintheratesoflactasepersistenceinNorthernEuropecomparedtothe
Mediterranean,whereratesareverylow(whatarethoserates?BSandcitethis).The
thirdtheorystatesthattheabilitytodigestlactoseisprevalentinhigharidenvironments
becausethewatercontentoffreshmilkincreasesthechancesofsurvival,whichis
supportedbyhighratesintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(Kerven).
Overall,thedomesticationofcattleandtheincreaseinpastorallifestyleiswhat
leadtotheabilitytodigestlactose.Thisisevidentbytheoriginandspreadoflactase
persistence,whichfollowsthespreadofcattleherding,andtheobviousbenefitsthey
wouldhavereapedfrommilk.Themutationbecameadominanttraitandthroughnatural
selection,andbecamefrequentinEuropeandNorthAfrica,whereitstillprevails.(good
summarizationofsourcebutthereisnoanalysis.Seecommentsontherubric)

WorksCited
Holden,Clare,andRuthMace.PhylogeneticAnalysisoftheEvolutionofLactose
DigestioninAdults.WayneStateUniversityPress,1997.
Kerven,C.Theroleofmilkinapastoraldietandeconomy:ThecaseofSouthDarfur,
SudanInternationalLivestockResearchInstitute.N.d.Web.September11.
LactoseIntoleranceGeneticsHomeReference.May2010.Web.September10.
Tishkoff,Sarah."Bones,Stones,andGenes:TheOriginofModernHumans."n.d.
Lecture.

(technicallyyoucannothaveaworkscitedpageunlessyouactuallycitethesources
withinyourpaper.MakesureyourteamdoesthisontheWTR)