‘Stature gene’ may reveal why these hunter-gatherers are among the world’s smallest humans.

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Rainforest hunter-gatherers in the Central African RepublicNovarc Images/Alamy Stock Photo
▼ African rainforest hunter-gatherers are among the smallest humans on the planet. Adult men rarely exceed 1.5 meters tall, about a quarter-meter shorter than the global average. Now, the largest ever genetic analysis of this group may have fingered the gene responsible—and settled a mystery that has vexed scientists for decades.
Once called “Pygmies” by outsiders, African rainforest hunter-gatherers live in densely forested environments across Central Africa. Their way of life includes gathering wild fruits and vegetables, fishing, and hunting monkeys and antelope. Their most striking physical characteristic is their relatively short stature (The name “pygmy” is derived from the ancient Greek word for “dwarf.”)
Some anthropologists have speculated that the group’s small body size gave them an advantage in Africa’s spectacularly hot, humid rainforests. Put simply, there’s less body to cool down, be it by sweating or other means. But other scientists say their stature may be just an accident. People in African rainforests have long  battled numerous infectious  diseases—including hepatitis B and C—and the genes this group evolved to help protect them have been linked to reduced levels of growth hormones.
To settle the debate, researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris consulted existing DNA databases built from blood or saliva samples given by nearly 300 African rainforest hunter-gatherers from Cameroon, Gabon, and Uganda, as well as nearly 300 people from neighboring agriculturalist groups who live outside the rainforests. The researchers report that the donors gave their informed consent to use their DNA in these studies.
They ran the data through a computer algorithm that calculates whether it’s more likely that particular snippets of DNA arose by pure chance or through natural selection. What they found surpassed their expectations:  (▪ ▪ ▪)

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chanakyakripa

Nature is the mother. Just like nature has caused so many varieties of infections to be there, she has also armed the indigenous population to their resistance. Let's learn from it.