Local adaptation of modern humans to micronutrient deficiencies

After their Out-of-Africa dispersal during the last 100,000 years, human populations were exposed to diverse new environments. For example, different soils and food sources produced varying levels of micronutrients in human nutrition. Some of these micronutrients are an essential part of human diet and their concentrations within the body are tightly regulated. From an evolutionary point of view this presents an exciting opportunity to explore human adaptation to local micronutrient deficiencies in different continental regions. During preparatory work, we identified a number of genes that are both involved in micronutrient metabolism and that putatively have been under recent, local selection in human populations. We use public datasets of world-wide human genetic variation to detangle the complex genetic patterns. After re-sequencing of candidate genes and in-depth statistical tests for positive selection, we aim to identify and characterize the functional variants of the selected genes. For this purpose, genotype-phenotype association studies - probably related to mRNA expression and tissue micronutrient status - are planned for the best of these candidates. We hope that this research project will contribute to our understanding of the adaptive processes that have shaped modern humans in their dispersal over the earth.