Study Shows that Ability to Drink Milk and Lactose Tolerance an Evolved Trait

I’m not exactly sure why yet, but for some reason I find this..interesting:

“A research group found that people only became lactose-tolerant within the last couple thousand years. The group found that as humans evolved they grew tolerant to milk. Dr Mark Thomas of the University College London said, “This is probably the single most advantageous gene trait in humans in the last 30,000 years.” ”

The report goes on to say that “Mainz University scientists in Germany and the UCL team studied the DNA of Neolithic skeletons from 5480BC to 5000BC. They found that lactase, an enzyme which breaks down lactose — one of the main sugars milk contains, was absent from the DNA. Only later did humans begin to develop the enzyme. Thomas said, “The ability to drink milk is the most advantageous trait that’s evolved in Europeans in the recent past.” ”