Genomics at the origins of agriculture, part two

Abstract

Agricultural expansion was such a momentous event that cultural or genetic evidence of its impact should be apparent. Abundant evidence indicates that agriculture was introduced into Europe at least 9,000 years ago. The primary issue remains whether agriculture spread by contact or by farmers moving into Europe. If agriculture was brought by farmers moving into foragers' territory, then genetic evidence should be apparent in the genes of modern Europeans. If foragers weredisplaced, then European genetic profiles should reflect the source population from the Near East. If there was interbreeding with the foragers who had a distinct genetic profile, then the genes of the Europeans descendants should reflect this admixture, with a clinal distribution of traits radiating from the Near East. These scenarios have been the focus of decades of debates between anthropologists and geneticists. In addition, genomic studies have been applied to pathogens in order to explore the link between agriculture and infectious disease.

Palaeomicrobiology of Tuberculosis

“…Erosive lesions suggestive of tuberculosis have been found on fossil fauna from the natural Trap Cave in Wyoming, dated from the 17,000 to 20,000 year level (Rothschild and Martin 2003). Initially, it was believed that humans acquired tuberculosis from animals, especially after domestication (Steinbock 1976;Manchester 1984;Clark et al 1987), but now we know that human tuberculosis is more ancestral (Armelagos and Harper 2005). Animal domestication is likely to have been important in sustaining a denser human population, enabling M. tuberculosis to become endemic (Weiss and McMichael 2004;).…”

Patterns of Population Differentiation and Natural Selection on the Celiac Disease Background Risk Network

“…Dietary specialization led to nutritional deficits and denser living conditions created ideal conditions for the spread of new pathogens, as documented by higher rates of porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, dental caries, linear enamel hypoplasias, tuberculosis, and trepanematoses in populations after the onset of agricultural production [11], [12]. Genetic and archaeological evidence show the importance of adaptive evolution concurrent with large-scale demographic change over the last 10,000 years [13].…”

A peacock’s tale: runaway agricultural evolution and the development of pre-pottery Neolithic communities in the southern Levant

“…Those findings have since been scrutinised and challenged; but in the decades since, the overall notion of declining health with increasing agricultural investment has received additional support (Armelagos et al 2005;Armelagos and Harper 2005;Bocquet-Appel and Bar-Yosef 2008;Bocquet-Appel et al 2008;Larsen 2002;Pechenkina et al 2002;Pinhasi and Stock 2011b;Roberts and Manchester 2005;Steckel and Rose 2002b). Given the proposed alterations to demographic and health profiles, Pinhasi and Stock (2011a:3) asked:…”

“…Bioarchaeologists argue that the development of early agriculturally-dependent societies enhanced the opportunities for parasitic and infectious diseases transmission (e.g. Armelagos et al 2005;Armelagos et al 1991;Bocquet-Appel 2011;Cohen 1989;Cohen and Armelagos 1984a;Larsen 1995). The resultant shift in health profiles is dubbed the first epidemiological transition, in contrast to the second epidemiological transition, which occurred in Europe and North America during the mid-nineteenth century alongside the Industrial Revolution.…”

“…The resultant shift in health profiles is dubbed the first epidemiological transition, in contrast to the second epidemiological transition, which occurred in Europe and North America during the mid-nineteenth century alongside the Industrial Revolution. Currently, a third epidemiological transition is underway, linked to the rapid globalisation of disease ecologies and | P a g e 45 various newly emerging, re-emerging and antibiotic resistant pathogens (see Armelagos et al 2005;Armelagos and Harper 2005;Barrett et al 1998;Bergstrom and Feldgarden 2008;Harper and Armelagos 2010;Woolhouse and Antia 2008).…”