Re:The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuali...
by btilly on Monday February 08, 2021 @11:53AM
(#26066988)
The striking example that you gave is more striking than that. Having one allele actually brings protection from malaria. So the recessive is selected for..as long as not too many people have it.
That is why sickle-cell anemia mostly shows up in people whose ancestors came from places with a long history of malaria.
Another striking example: Sickle cell disease will only be deadly if both alleles carry the unfortunate mutation. But the unhealthy allele is unlikely to be eliminated by evolutionary pressure because carrying one allele provides significant protection against malaria.
The interactions between genes and their environment is usually more complicated that these simple examples, but I hope it illustrates that evolutionary pressure may not suffice to erase some apparently unsustainable alleles from the population.