Genetic tradeoff: Harmful genes are widespread in yeast but hold hidden benefits
Thursday, October 25, 2012 - 20:00
in Biology & Nature
The genes responsible for inherited diseases are clearly bad for us, so why hasn't evolution, over time, weeded them out and eliminated them from the human genome altogether? Part of the reason seems to be that genes that can harm us at one stage of our lives are necessary and beneficial to us at other points in our development.