The European change in fat metabolism from ancient to modern times

Recently, evolutionary biologists have been looking into how changes in diet have led to human adaptations to genes that regulate fat metabolism. There are two essential genes that regulate the synthesis of vital fatty acids, fatty acid desaturase 1 and 2 (FADS 1 and 2). They change dietary fats into components for use in the heart and brain. Previously, scientists have shown that the FADS genes are commonly targets of natural selection, as variants appear associated with changes in dietary patterns. In this study data from 101 Bronze Age individuals and present-day human data are examined. Recent adaptive mutations in the FADS genes were analysed to determine which mutations might have been selected for.

They found that certain single DNA mutations have been targeted to increase the production of the long-chain PUFAS, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid. This is similar to a change seen in the Indian population, whose diet is heavily vegetarian. It is therefore hypothesised that the European population may be in the process of adapting to a diet rich in fatty acids derived from plant sources, whilst moving away from those derived from animal sources. It is thought that the introduction of agriculture and its high uptake in Europe has contributed to this shift, as more people have been consuming grains and other plant-derived foods. They performed further research whose results suggested that these changes in PUFA production led to an improved cholesterol level. It is hoped that more research into the FADS region may help to develop individualised diets in the future.