Is Prof Jones (Dept of Genetics ) correct to say global mass migration is stopping human further evolution?
Professor Jones is incorrect. Human evolution continues with every reproduction. Sexual selection, a part of natural selection, happens with every mating. This selection process changes the relative frequency of genes in the human gene pool. For example, people with obvious genetic defects tend to lose out in the sexual selection process. This is evolution.
Prof Jones may well be right. Evolutionary changes occur most rapidly – often dramatically, within isolated populations on, say, islands (Remember Darwin’s finches?). In Britain we have the St Kilda Wren and the Skokholm Vole, evolving in isolation from the mainland. Migration constantly dilutes these potential changes and yes, may well inhibit evolution.
