Northern Europeans have a gene that allows them to continue digesting milk products after the traditional time of weaning; a person with such a gene would have had an advantage because dairy products are a high quality food source and, in probably less than _____ years, that advantage would have enabled the gene to be passed on to almost all of the European population.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The spread of the lactose tolerance gene through the European population likely took less than 10,000 years, as this matches the timeline of the development of agriculture and the domestication of dairy animals in Europe. This increased consumption of dairy likely created selective pressure for the lactose tolerance gene to become more prevalent in the population. The other options (A, C, D) are too short or too long of a timeline to account for this genetic adaptation.

Northern Europeans Have a Gene That Allows Them to Continue