Mean Genes

Science News

While our hunter-gatherer ancestors enjoyed a markedly different lifestyle than ours today, we must deal with their genetic legacy. Burnham and Phelan explore a host of deadly sins that plague modern people and were actually attributes for our ancient predecessors. For example, extra body fat protected cave men from famine. Now, people battle the bulge in the land of good and plenty. The authors delve into a Darwinian cauldron of ancient and modern behaviors-violence, addiction, greed, infidelity. Their goal is to forward an understanding of genetic predispositions that will help people overcome these problems.