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EVOLUTION OF HUMAN HEALTH

How natural selection shapes our later years

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Natural selection does not disappear with age, according to a new evolutionary demographic model. This conclusion is at odds with the widespread belief that ending reproduction relaxes purifying selection on alleles that increase our ageing body’s vulnerability to diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s or diabetes.

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Fig. 1: How purifying selection at older ages could shape the genetic architecture of late-onset diseases.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada

    Emmanuel Milot

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  1. Emmanuel Milot
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Correspondence to Emmanuel Milot.

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Milot, E. How natural selection shapes our later years. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 271–272 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01374-z

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