If anybody needs an index into just how complicated we have managed to make our lives, just look at how long it takes a human to reach adulthood. The reason behind the bizarre and seemingly unnatural length of the human childhood (which averages more than twice that of any other primate) has long been a source of ambiguity. From an evolutionary perspective, a prolonged developmental phase is puzzling, as it requires greater parental investment and increases the risk that a being may die prior to reproductive age. The most widely accepted justification of this time and resource-taxing period of nourishment has been that the human brain, in preparation for the uniquely complicated tasks and elaborate social structures of homo sapien life, simply needs more time to develop more intelligence and behavioral flexibility than those of fellow creatures.
While this privileged stretch of time may exist to allow our faculties to adapt to the singular demands and riddles of human life, new research shows that there are other, genetic reasons for our slow pace to maturity. In the most recent contribution to the theory of genomic printing, David Haig, professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, suggests that the battle between paternal and maternal genes, which previous research has shown to occur within the womb, continues for years after birth.
That this struggle extends into childhood, and possibly even into one’s teens, points to a new, genomic-based, lens though which to view human development. As Haig suggests, “Evidence from disorders of genomic imprinting suggests that maternal and paternal genes may skirmish over the pace of human development.” Adding that “This analysis suggests that human life history, and especially humans’ unusual extended childhood, may reflect a compromise between what’s best for mothers, fathers, and the offspring themselves,”
Discuss
Vicki Nikolaidis on July 31, 2009, 1:13 PM
This info is incredibly interesting! A three way struggle for survival of a particular characteristic so-to-speak. You’ve given us a lot to think about, Andrew!
It’s going to take me awhile to digest what the dynamics of such a struggle could mean for the human race. Add to that adaptions necessary for survival in a more polluted environment with different climatic forces: Who can tell where this may lead!
ed hardy on August 28, 2009, 4:27 AM
thanks, the article is very good~~
by ed hardy
Kerry Harmer on August 29, 2009, 10:50 PM
Isn’t the length of human childhood relative to our life span. as it is in other species? I believe so. Otherwise I am now thinking about this genetic battle and its implications if, in fact, it does exist. Which set of genes would delay development and which would speed it up? (thinking out loud here). Here’s my theory: the paternal genes would work to accelerate the growth rate for continuity of the species – earlier maturation= more reproduction. The maternal genes would slow the growth rate to ensure a slighter later maturation and thus more successful and healthier reproduction.
Also-I’ve noticed a difference in the onset of puberty even among socioeconomic classes – the more affluent tend to mature later. Do the genes “know” that poverty usually causes a shorter life span and thus causes earlier maturation? A long family history of better health habits and care might somehow get encoded into the genes and delay adulthood in order to produce healthier offspring and vice versa for the the poverty stricken. Any one?
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