News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disorder genes. Parent comment

Re:Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disor... by mjburgess on Friday February 23, 2018 @01:53PM (#16448399)
Well "were" doesnt preclude "are". To say "are" however requires a whole set of other evidence much harder to obtain.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disor... by craftyguy on Friday February 23, 2018 @05:40PM (#16450244)
Why do you think evolution has decided to stop with us after running for several billion years on at least one planet in the universe?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disor... by acomar on Friday February 23, 2018 @05:52PM (#16450331)
That's not what they're saying. The point is that it's easier to say something about the past with the benefit of hindsight than to say something about on-going action. How would you prove that positive selection for these traits exists right now? What kind of evidence would that take?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disor... by craftyguy on Saturday February 24, 2018 @03:14PM (#16455130)
I see, yea I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Signatures of positive selection in autism spectrum disor... by cryptonector on Friday February 23, 2018 @05:57PM (#16450363)
The question is whether some specific genes are still being selected for, and the answer is not obvious, though it's a good bet that if they were, and if we're seeing a rise in incidence, then they are.
[ Parent | on HN ]