If there really is resistance to malaria in the modern European population, might it not also mean that there was more intermarriage between Africans and Europeans than is traditionally supposed?
Though I'm skeptical as I've not heard of particular genetic resistance in Europeans against malaria, there is a provocative theory that suggests that the descendants of survivors of the historic black death epidemics might have a genetic component that ALSO makes them resistant to HIV infection: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/index.html I have nothing off-topic to add - the history of disease and how disease affects history is a peculiar side interest of mine. Allison T. On Jan 14, 2008 5:47 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Message: 12 > Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:47:08 EST > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [h-cost] Re: Spanish flu > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > > A friend who does research on malaria once told me it originated in > A friend who does research on malaria once told me it originated in > Europe, which was a surprise because I'd always thought it was > tropical. Apparently it was unknown in tropical areas until European > settlers reached there. > *************************** > Hold the phone! > Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease found only in Africans and their > descendants, I believe, that one gets if one inherits 2 genes that cause the > shape of their red corpusles to become sickle-like. A single copy of the gene > makes one very resistant to Malaria...changing the shape of the cell just > enough so the Malaria parasite cannot recognize them and attack. So it is a > genetic trait that has evolved to help those exposed to the disease for > centuries....malenia...to survive. The deaths from the unfortunate > inheritance of 2 > genes from the parents apparently, in genetic terms, are acceptable losses. > I don't think this kind of thing, this genetic reaction to Malaria, could > evolve in the, relatively speaking, short time Europeans have been in Africa. > It definitely implies Africans have been dealing with it for a much longer > time. > >From Wikipedia: > Malaria has infected humans for over 50,000 years, and may have been a human > _pathogen_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathogen) for the entire history > of our species._[2]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#_note-1) Indeed, > close relatives of the human malaria parasites remain common in chimpanzees, > our closest relatives._[3]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#_note-2) > References to the unique periodic fevers of malaria are found throughout > recorded history, beginning in 2700 BC in China._[4]_ > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#_note-3) The term malaria originates > from _Medieval_ > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages) _Italian_ > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language) : mala aria â€" "_bad air_ > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory_of_disease) "; and the disease > was formerly called _ague_ > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ague) or marsh fever due to its association > with swamps. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
