Scientists have hypothesized that modern allergies are the result of a cleaner and simpler way of life. They believe our immune systems evolved for a dirtier, germ-filled past, and the idea is that in the world’s cleaner environment humans immune systems overreact to simple things causing allergies. The research done for this hypothesis included the study of over 15,000 humans’ genomes from 18,000 to 200 years ago. With the start of farming, research suggests that in the denser societies natural selection favored genes that fought off bigger issues like influenza and tuberculosis. These changes caused an increase in autoimmune diseases risks, but they also lowered the signals linked to allergy inflammation. Will Barie, a geneticist, offered the perspective that modern immune systems work on a “patchwork” immune system. The patchwork system works through different eras. For instance, the hunter-gather phase favored a fast immune system to fight off continual infection. As well as the agricultural phase where the immune system worked on a trade off: tempering harmful inflammation and fighting off new infections.
Picture: https://drathavale.com/nose-sinus/allergy/types-of-allergies/
Article: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-dna-allergies-dirtier-past
Second Article: https://hms.harvard.edu/news/massive-ancient-dna-study-reveals-natural-selection-has-accelerated-recent-human-evolution
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