How interplanetary migration could impact human evolution
What will humans look like in the distant future? Space travel may affect both biological and technological changes in our species.
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How will this affect human evolution in a completely unknown environment? What would happen when humans decide to leave the Earth and explore differentplanets?
Considering that the environment will be totally different from what we´re used to, it’s expected that we will evolve different traits that make us more adapted to that new life.
Scott Solomon, an evolutionary biologist believes that a big change in our environment could make us evolve very quickly. No change is more dramatic than moving to another planet, right?
First, we will have to adapt or develop solutions to well-known problems humans face during space travel. After a few months in space, astronauts suffer physiological changes due to radiation andthe effects of microgravity.
One example of this is bone density loss — without the stress gravity places on our bones, they lose density. Perhaps, future humans might evolve thicker bones to overcome this challenge. The NASA video below shows a look at how space travel affects the human immune system.
During space travel,astronauts experience changesin their circulatory system, as well as their eyes, brain, microbiome, and even in the expression of some genes and in our telomeres (the protective cap of our genetic material). This can give us an idea of which systems would shape the evolution of our species.
Another possibility for future human evolution might be adaptations to the lower oxygen levels usually seen at high altitudes. People who live in high altitudes develop more red blood cells, transporting oxygen more efficiently.
Isolation from terrestrial germs could result inMartian colonistslosing the ability to fight off common diseases. Potentially, these colonists may be forced to keep themselves separated from new arrivals from Earth, speeding genetic changes.
“Our eyes are accustomed to a certain amount of light on Earth. If there has to be some adaptation to these new ambient conditions, then either our optical system and brain will have to develop new ways of collecting more light on the retina, or we will develop new retinas or bigger eyes,” explainedDr. Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute.
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Technological advances, especially in the biotech area, will provide solutions for us to cope with those threats to our survival. For example, using genetic engineering, we could alter our genome to become more resistant to diseases, and to live longer lives.
We also have to consider the founder effect. Probably, only a few humans will be able to start these new civilizations on a foreign planet. Imagine that one of them has a gene for a specific trait or a disease. Through reproduction, they could pass this gene on to the next generations and the entire population may eventually develop the disease. This occurs withsmall populations that live in isolation, highlighting the importance of genetic variability.
Given enough time, the human race might even splinter into more than one species.
“This happens routinely to animals and plants isolated on islands — think of Darwin’s finches. But while speciation on islands can take thousand of years, the accelerated mutation rate on Mars and the stark contrasts between conditions on Mars and Earth would likely speed up the process. In just a few hundred generations — perhaps as little as 6,000 years — a new type of human might emerge,” Soloman suggests.
Ethical issues also come into play — We would be selecting a population with specific characteristics to constitute a new species. Who would make those decisions, and which characteristics would be selected for — or against — while colonizing space? All of these possibilities must be considered as we ponderlife beyond the Earth.
This article was originally published onThe Cosmic CompanionbyJames Maynard, founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion andAna Luiza Dias, a specialist in Biotechnology.You can read this original piecehere.
Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companionis also available as a weekly podcast, carried on all major podcast providers. Tune in every Tuesday for updates on the latest astronomy news, and interviews with astronomers and other researchers working to uncover the nature of the Universe.
Story byThe Cosmic Companion
Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.
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