研究:未来女人将会变矮变胖
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-10-31 03:24 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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近期发表在美国《国家科学学会学报》上的一项研究报告显示,在人类进化过程中,女性将会变矮、体重会增加、身体会更健康,而且生育周期会更长。如果按照这项研究的趋势发展,到2409年的时候,女性的平均身高将会减少2厘米,体重增加1公斤,生育头胎的年龄将会提前5个月,而停经期将会推后10个月。这项研究是由耶鲁大学进化生物学教授史蒂芬•斯特恩斯组织进行的,他和他的研究小组对马萨诸塞州弗雷明汉镇1.4万居民中2238名已过生育年龄的女性医疗史进行研究,并测量了她们的身高、体重、胆固醇、血压以及其他指标。结果发现,身材矮小、体重较重的女性生的孩子比高个、苗条的女性要多;血压和胆固醇指标较低的女性多育的几率也较高。研究还发现,母亲的这些身体特质都会遗传给女儿,并由此影响到下一代的生育状况。

New research at Yale University has provided the strongest evidence yet that humans are evolving – and suggests that women of the future will be shorter, heavier, and healthier, and will have children for longer.
New research at Yale University has provided the strongest evidence yet that humans are evolving – and suggests that women of the future will be shorter, heavier, and healthier, and will have children for longer.

New research at Yale University has provided the strongest evidence yet that humans are evolving – and suggests that women of the future will be shorter, heavier, and healthier, and will have children for longer.

As medicine has allowed people who would previously1 have died young to live to childbearing age and beyond, many have assumed that natural selection no longer works on our species.

But Prof Stephen Stearns, the evolutionary2 biologist at Yale University behind the study, says: "That's just plain false."

While survival to reproductive age(生育年龄) is no longer such a hurdle3(障碍) for humans, other evolutionary pressures – including sexual selection and reproductive fitness – are still working away in full force.

If the trends the research detected are representative and continue for another 10 generations, Prof Stearns says that the average woman in 2409AD will be 2cm (0.8in) shorter and 1kg (2lb 3oz) heavier, will bear her first child five months earlier, and enter the menopause(停经期,更年期) 10 months later.

Prof Stearns and his team studied the medical histories of 14,000 residents of the Massachusetts town of Framingham, using medical data from a study going back to 1948 and spanning three generations.

It looked at 2,238 women past reproductive age – so that they had had all the children they were going to – and tested their height, weight, cholesterol4(胆固醇), blood pressure, and other traits, to see if there was a correlation5(相互关系) with the number of children they had borne.

It found that shorter, heavier women had more children than lighter6, taller ones. Women with lower blood pressure and cholesterol were also more likely to have large families.

Women who gave birth early or had a late menopause were likely to have more children as well.

More importantly, however, these traits were then passed on to their daughters, who also, on average, had more children.

The study has not determined7 why these factors are linked to reproductive success, but it is likely that they indicate genetic8, rather than environmental, effects. Prof Stearns’ team controlled for other factors, including social and cultural change.

He told New Scientist: "It's interesting that the underlying9(下面的,关联的) biological framework is still detectable10 beneath the culture."

Research suggesting humans are evolving has been carried out before, but this is believed to be the first that directly compares reproductive success of individuals with physiological11 changes(生理变化).

The research is published in the Proceedings12 of the National Academy of Sciences journal.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
2 evolutionary Ctqz7m     
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的
参考例句:
  • Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
  • These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
3 hurdle T5YyU     
n.跳栏,栏架;障碍,困难;vi.进行跨栏赛
参考例句:
  • The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍,所以我必须要作好准备。
  • She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。
4 cholesterol qrzzV     
n.(U)胆固醇
参考例句:
  • There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
  • They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。
5 correlation Rogzg     
n.相互关系,相关,关连
参考例句:
  • The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
  • A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。
6 lighter 5pPzPR     
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
参考例句:
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
7 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
8 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
9 underlying 5fyz8c     
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的
参考例句:
  • The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
  • This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。
10 detectable tuXzmd     
adj.可发觉的;可查明的
参考例句:
  • The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.人的耳朵几乎是察觉不到这种噪音的。
  • The inflection point at this PH is barely detectable.在此PH值下,拐点不易发现。
11 physiological aAvyK     
adj.生理学的,生理学上的
参考例句:
  • He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
  • Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。
12 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
TAG标签: children women evolve
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