Human beings are actually still evolving - here’s what’s changing

Human beings are still evolving, with natural selection changing us very slowly – with selection now favouring a higher body mass index (BMI) in men.

Natural selection also appears to be favouring an earlier age for starting a family in women, researchers have said – and reduced educational achievements.

This may be linked to the age at which people start a family, researchers have said.

But the changes are weak, and it is now taking generations before significant change are seeen in people, the University of California researchers say.

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Researchers analysed data from UK Biobank, which holds genetic and health information from half a million British people aged 45 and over.

Men may well be – slowly – evolving to be ‘big muscly hunks’, according to researcher Steve Jones, emeritus professor of human genetics at University College London,

Jaleal Sanjak of the University of California, Irvine, says ,’We wanted to try to understandthe evolutionary forces that are affecting contemporary human traits, including height and BMI. And also characterise whether selection was pushing the population in one direction or another, or favouring intermediate values or extreme values.’