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The Hindu
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
East Asians began evolving to drink milk before they reared cattle
Female mammals produce milk to nourish their young. Much of the nourishment comes from lactose, the major sugar in milk. The lactose is broken down in the infant's small intestine into the more simpler sugars, glucose, and galactose, which are readily absorbed by the small intestine. The break-down, or digestion, of lactose is mediated by an enzyme called lactase. After weaning, a baby rapidly loses the ability to produce lactase. When adults consume milk, cheese, ice cream or other dairy products, many of them experience unpleasant effects like bloating, flatulence, and diarrhoea. This is because the undigested lactose passes into the large intestine, where it is utilised by the bacteria residing there. This produces hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane, and the unabsorbed sugars increase water flow into the bowels to produce diarrhoea. These are the hallmarks of lactose intolerance. Yet millions of people around the world regularly indulge in milkshakes, cheese pizzas, and ice cream sundaes even as adults. This is because they carry genetic mutations that allow them to continue producing lactase even as adults. This trait is called lactase persistence. A textbook example The mutations that confer lactase persistence emerged independently in different populations. Their emergence in North European and African populations in particular appears to have coincided with the domestication of cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep, and other livestock, which began about 11,000 years ago. The cultural shift from hunting/gathering to pastoralism gave continued access to meat, milk, and hides from herds of domesticated animals. The coincidental emergence of lactase persistence mutations with livestock domestication was taken by many scientists at the time to be a 'textbook example' of convergent evolution. That is, the independent evolution of similar traits in distantly related populations. Experts believed it was driven, in the words of a 2007 paper in Nature Genetics, by the 'strong selective pressure resulting from shared cultural traits — animal domestication and adult milk consumption'. A wrinkle in the textbook Scientists may need to reevaluate this neat summation in the light of new findings reported by a team of researchers from Fudan University in Shanghai, China; the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany; and the Université de Lyon in France. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found a distinct evolutionary pathway for lactase persistence in East Asian populations, which includes the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Vietnamese. Unlike the gene-and-culture coevolution well-documented in African and European groups, the East Asian lactase persistence gene had come from the Neanderthals, an archaic group of humans that went extinct about 30,000 years ago. When the researchers conducted population genetic analyses of the part of the genome containing the lactase gene, they found evidence of pre-agricultural selection pressures beginning more than 30,000 years ago. That is, the East Asian genomes began evolving towards lactase persistence several millennia before these populations began to domesticate livestock. This early evolution likely targeted advantages related to the immune system rather than lactose digestion directly. The researchers found the East Asian (Neanderthal-derived) lactase gene showed the same expression pattern as the mutant responsible for lactase persistence in Europeans. This suggested it also conferred lactate persistence. Neanderthals in our genome About 7 million years ago, the evolutionary line leading to the contemporary Homo sapiens diverged from the one leading to our closest living cousins, the chimpanzees and bonobos. About 800,000 years ago, our line split once more: one population broke away and migrated to Eurasia, adapting to cold climes and eventually becoming the Neanderthals. The other stayed put in Africa and, by about 200,000 years ago, evolved into modern humans. Modern humans migrated out of Africa into Eurasia 120,000 to 80,000 years ago, and came into contact with their Neanderthal cousins there. DNA evidence from skeletal remains dating to after the contact showed the two occasionally interbred as well. As a result, today, about 1-4% of the genome of individuals with Eurasian ancestry — i.e. Europeans, East Asians, Indians, Native Americans, and Oceanians — represents Neanderthal-derived DNA sequences. The lactase gene of East Asians was one such segment. On the other hand, those of African descent have close to 0% Neanderthal-derived sequences. About 30,000 years ago the Neanderthals went extinct for reasons that are still not clear. Bones to pick Experts can distinguish Neanderthal skeletal remains from those of modern humans by the shape of the skull, inner ear bones, and pelvis width. Neanderthal bones have yielded DNA, which scientists have sequenced and compared with that of H. sapiens. Two random humans share about 99.9% of their DNA sequence whereas humans and Neanderthals shared only about 99.7%. Thus, there are about 9.6 million points of difference between Neanderthal and human DNA sequences, in terms of the bases the DNA is made of. Based on these differences, if a DNA sequence is sufficiently long, one can tell whether it is from humans or Neanderthals. The Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR) is a curated database of more than 10,000 genome sequences from the skeletal remains of ancient individuals who lived up to 20,000 years ago. The researchers who put this resource together have also identified, on every genome, more than a million sites where the DNA has been known to exhibit a different ordering of bases than 'normal'. About 67% of the ancient DNA sequences in AADR are from remains recovered in Europe and Russia, some 8% each are from East Asia and the Near East, about 7% are from the Americas, about 5% are from South and Central Asia, about 3% from Africa, and about 2% from Oceania. A story upended The researchers behind the new study searched AADR and found one modern human who lived around 14,000 years ago in the Amur area of China. This individual carried the Neanderthal-derived lactase gene. The gene occurred in roughly 10% of those humans who lived 8,000 to 3,000 years ago, and in about 20% of those who lived about 3,000 to 1,000 years ago. Its current frequency among East Asians is 28.9%. Thus, the AADR data also supported the inference made from the population genetic analyses: that the lactase gene had already experienced selection and had reached a (relatively) high frequency among East Asians long before they began to domesticate animals. Thus either the selection in East Asians, unlike that in Africans and North Europeans, was for reasons other than lactase persistence, or in all three geographies the selection was similarly not for lactase persistence. Either way in the light of these findings the classic story of gene–culture coevolution has become more complicated and hence, as the researchers note, more interesting. D.P. Kasbekar is a retired scientist.
Straits Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
UK sanctions up to 100 Russian tankers as North European leaders meet in Norway
The sanctions would represent Britain's largest package of measures against the shadow fleet, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said. PHOTO: AFP UK sanctions up to 100 Russian tankers as North European leaders meet in Norway OSLO/LONDON - Britain will sanction up to 100 oil tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet, seeking to step up pressure on Moscow in the war with Ukraine, as leaders from the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) security alliance meet in Norway on May 9. The vessels carried cargo worth over US$24 billion (S$31.22 billion) since the beginning of 2024, with some ships also involved in damaging critical infrastructure, Britain said. The sanctions would represent Britain's largest package of measures against the shadow fleet, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said. It did not provide further detail, but similar sanctions previously have restricted or prohibited the movement of shadow fleet vessels and their access to some British ports. Mr Starmer will announce the measures at a summit of JEF leaders in Oslo. Founded in 2014, the British-led group of 10 northern European nations including Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, acts as a supplement to wider cooperation through the Nato military alliance. 'Every step we take to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine is another step towards security and prosperity in the UK,' Mr Starmer said. 'We will do everything in our power to destroy (President Vladimir Putin's) shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives.' The vessels are suspected of damaging undersea infrastructure in Europe, including power lines, cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Nordic and Baltic nations, alarmed by rising sabotage risks, have pressed for action. JEF nations have been steadfast supporters of Ukraine, with many spooked by Russia's invasion of its smaller neighbour. Sweden and Finland have also joined Nato, upending decades of non-alignment. Summit host Norway is a top exporter of gas to Britain and continental Europe, delivered via its 8,800km North Sea pipeline network, which is surveilled by Nato navy patrols to protect against sabotage. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Early container rush ahead as Asia-Pacific defies global growth slowdown
The global ocean freight market is facing a fraught outlook in 2025, a new DHL update finds, characterized by economic headwinds, geopolitical tensions and industry restructuring. Global economic growth is projected to slow to 2.5% in 2025, the weakest since 2009, excluding the pandemic. The Americas region, including the United States (2%), Canada (1.8%) and Mexico (0.6%), is experiencing the most significant downward revisions to growth forecasts. Despite this challenging backdrop, container volumes have shown resilience. Global container trade grew by 7.7% in 2024, with Asia-Pacific exports, particularly from China, driving much of this expansion. Looking ahead, trade is expected to grow by 4.3% in 2025, with Asia-Pacific export lanes outpacing the global average. While the U.S. is delaying port fees on Chinese vessels that could have disrupted global shipping, the return to normal Red Sea-Suez Canal operations appears unlikely in 2025 due to ongoing security concerns, leading to potential capacity constraints as the peak season approaches. New alliances are settling, but blanked sailings – scheduled voyages that don't sail – increased in recent weeks, partly due to port congestion but also as carriers tighten capacity to boost rates, with 9.2% of the global fleet (2.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units) currently idle. The end of the fragile ceasefire in Gaza has seen Israel and Hamas resume hostilities. The United States military continues to pound Houthi rebel positions inside Yemen, and while there have been no recorded attacks on merchant shipping so far this year, the region is still considered too unstable by major container carriers to resume scheduled services. The global vessel orderbook has reached a record high, surpassing 9 million TEUs. However, only two-thirds of this new capacity is expected to be delivered before 2028, suggesting a gradual impact on overall fleet size. Container freight rates have been on a downward trajectory since January, now sitting 75% below their 2021 peak but still above pre-pandemic levels. However, rates are expected to increase in May and June on early peak season volumes, compounded by the continued avoidance of the Suez Canal route. The market is anticipated to reach a more balanced state, though volatility remains a constant threat. Factors that could disrupt this balance include potential blank sailings due to port congestion, longer transit times from Cape of Good Hope routing, and carriers' focus on yield management as they settle into new alliance structures. Port congestion remains a significant challenge, particularly in Europe. As of early April, more than 935,000 TEU of cargo was waiting at North European and Mediterranean anchorages, accounting for 32% of the global total. Key ports such as Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp are experiencing severe congestion and berthing delays. On a positive note, global schedule reliability improved in February, reaching 54.9%, highest since May 2024. The newly formed Gemini Cooperation of Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) and Hapag-Lloyd (OTC: HPGLY) appears to be well-conceived, achieving an impressive 94% schedule reliability in origin ports during its first month of operations, outdistancing the other alliances. The ocean freight sector is navigating an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Notable developments include: The implementation of the EU's electronic security screening system (ICS2 Release 3) for ocean, road, and rail freight on April 1, 2025. Ongoing changes to U.S. tariff policies, including new tariffs on Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian goods. A proposed 25% tariff on countries importing oil from Venezuela, potentially affecting major economies like China and India. Perhaps most significantly, the U.S. Trade Representative is delaying implementation of port fees on vessels linked to China after major pushback from carriers and shippers. These fees could total up to $1.5 million per port call for Chinese-built vessels, with additional charges for operators using Chinese-built ships or placing orders with Chinese shipyards. This would have far-reaching consequences for global trade patterns and shipping costs when and if they are implemented. Find more articles by Stuart Chirls of Seattle appeals housing plan it says threatens trucking, cargo movement Tariff fallout as imports edge up at Port of LA while empties soar Weakened carbon tax on shipping approved Trump sics DOGE on the Navy but ignores China port fees The post Early container rush ahead as Asia-Pacific defies global growth slowdown appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio
