Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia
Abstract Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders that are found in high prevalences in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These diseases provide varying levels of resistance to malaria and are proposed to have emerged as an adaptive response to malaria in these regions. The transi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83978-4 |
| _version_ | 1818436044724371456 |
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| author | Melandri Vlok Hallie R. Buckley Justyna J. Miszkiewicz Meg M. Walker Kate Domett Anna Willis Hiep H. Trinh Tran T. Minh Mai Huong T. Nguyen Lan Cuong Nguyen Hirofumi Matsumura Tianyi Wang Huu T. Nghia Marc F. Oxenham |
| author_facet | Melandri Vlok Hallie R. Buckley Justyna J. Miszkiewicz Meg M. Walker Kate Domett Anna Willis Hiep H. Trinh Tran T. Minh Mai Huong T. Nguyen Lan Cuong Nguyen Hirofumi Matsumura Tianyi Wang Huu T. Nghia Marc F. Oxenham |
| author_sort | Melandri Vlok |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders that are found in high prevalences in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These diseases provide varying levels of resistance to malaria and are proposed to have emerged as an adaptive response to malaria in these regions. The transition to agriculture in the Holocene has been suggested to have influenced the selection for thalassemia in the Mediterranean as land clearance for farming encouraged interaction between Anopheles mosquitos, the vectors for malaria, and human groups. Here we document macroscopic and microscopic skeletal evidence for the presence of thalassemia in both hunter-gatherer (Con Co Ngua) and early agricultural (Man Bac) populations in northern Vietnam. Firstly, our findings demonstrate that thalassemia emerged prior to the transition to agriculture in Mainland Southeast Asia, from at least the early seventh millennium BP, contradicting a long-held assumption that agriculture was the main driver for an increase in malaria in Southeast Asia. Secondly, we describe evidence for significant malarial burden in the region during early agriculture. We argue that the introduction of farming into the region was not the initial driver of the selection for thalassemia, as it may have been in other regions of the world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T17:02:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0592d6b24c8482383869e56a2ee7aa8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T17:02:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0592d6b24c8482383869e56a2ee7aa82022-12-21T22:53:48ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-03-0111111510.1038/s41598-021-83978-4Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast AsiaMelandri Vlok0Hallie R. Buckley1Justyna J. Miszkiewicz2Meg M. Walker3Kate Domett4Anna Willis5Hiep H. Trinh6Tran T. Minh7Mai Huong T. Nguyen8Lan Cuong Nguyen9Hirofumi Matsumura10Tianyi Wang11Huu T. Nghia12Marc F. Oxenham13Department of Anatomy, University of OtagoDepartment of Anatomy, University of OtagoSchool of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National UniversitySchool of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National UniversityCollege of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook UniversityCollege of Arts, Society & Education, James Cook UniversityInstitute of ArchaeologyInstitute of ArchaeologyInstitute of ArchaeologyInstitute of ArchaeologySchool of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical UniversityDepartment of Archaeology, University of CambridgeInstitute of ArchaeologySchool of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National UniversityAbstract Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders that are found in high prevalences in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These diseases provide varying levels of resistance to malaria and are proposed to have emerged as an adaptive response to malaria in these regions. The transition to agriculture in the Holocene has been suggested to have influenced the selection for thalassemia in the Mediterranean as land clearance for farming encouraged interaction between Anopheles mosquitos, the vectors for malaria, and human groups. Here we document macroscopic and microscopic skeletal evidence for the presence of thalassemia in both hunter-gatherer (Con Co Ngua) and early agricultural (Man Bac) populations in northern Vietnam. Firstly, our findings demonstrate that thalassemia emerged prior to the transition to agriculture in Mainland Southeast Asia, from at least the early seventh millennium BP, contradicting a long-held assumption that agriculture was the main driver for an increase in malaria in Southeast Asia. Secondly, we describe evidence for significant malarial burden in the region during early agriculture. We argue that the introduction of farming into the region was not the initial driver of the selection for thalassemia, as it may have been in other regions of the world.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83978-4 |
| spellingShingle | Melandri Vlok Hallie R. Buckley Justyna J. Miszkiewicz Meg M. Walker Kate Domett Anna Willis Hiep H. Trinh Tran T. Minh Mai Huong T. Nguyen Lan Cuong Nguyen Hirofumi Matsumura Tianyi Wang Huu T. Nghia Marc F. Oxenham Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia Scientific Reports |
| title | Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia |
| title_full | Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia |
| title_fullStr | Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia |
| title_short | Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia |
| title_sort | forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in southeast asia |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83978-4 |
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