Starch-heavy diets selected for extra copies of the AMY1 gene

Evidence

Populations who have long been dependent on eating high-starch diets have between 6.5 and 7 copies, on average. The Hadza, African hunter-gatherers who live in savannah woodlands and rely on starchy roots and tubers, have the most, at almost 7 copies, on average, and some Hadza have as many as 15 copies. European-Americans and Japanese are not far behind, at 6.8 and 6.6 copies. By contrast, populations long dependent on low-starch diets have copy counts around 5.5. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 309

Human populations, however, vary in the number of AMY1 copies they have. Populations who have long been dependent on eating high-starch diets have between 6.5 and 7 copies, on average. The Hadza, African hunter-gatherers who live in savannah woodlands and rely on starchy roots and tubers, have the most, at almost 7 copies, on average, and some Hadza have as many as 15 copies. European-Americans and Japanese are not far behind, at 6.8 and 6.6 copies. By contrast, populations long dependent on low-starch diets have copy counts around 5.5. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 310

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 309; Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 310
• XREF: connects to: Cultural evolution can create selection pressures stronger than natural ones — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 282; Adopting cheese technology can halt a population’s lactase gene evolution — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 295; The onset date of rice agriculture predicts half the ADH1B gene variation — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 288 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Rice wine production selected for genes that make drinking unpleasant #contradicts (0.70) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 290