Genetic and epigenetic variation of human populations: An adaptive tale

Abstract

The evolutionary history of modern humans means much more than their demographic past. It includes the way in which humans have had to genetically adapt to the different environments they have encountered-nutritional, climatic or pathogenic-as well as the different epigenetic responses elicited by such environmental cues. Detecting how natural selection has affected human genome variability has proven to be a powerful tool to delineate genes and biological functions having played a key role in human adaptation, a variation which can also be involved in phenotypes of medical relevance. This article reviews several examples that illustrate well how different environmental pressures, particularly those imposed by pathogens and infectious diseases, have shaped the patterns of genetic and epigenetic variability currently observed in human populations.

Keywords: Epigenetics; Evolution; Genetics; Génétique; Immunity; Immunité; Natural selection; Populations; Sélection naturelle; Épigénétique; Évolution.