Evolutionary medicine of skin cancer risk among Europeans

A team of researchers led by Santos Alonso, et. al., have examined the evolutionary selective pressure for a fair skin gene, MC1R, among a large population of Spaniards in comparison to their Northern Europeans counterparts as well as individuals with melanoma. Using data from the 1,000 Genomes Project as well as samples from different regions of Spain, they authors show that selection for the MC1R locus is strong in South Europeans, but not the case for Northern Europeans.

Fuente : http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/mba…