Paleofantasy Post #4

In my continued reading of Paleofantasy, I grow more and more fond of the book. I'm sure I've said this before, but I really enjoy Zuk's easy writing style and the way she devotes whole chapters to individual topics. Though there are many great passages throughout this book, one in particular stood out to me in my most recent reading. In her chapter titled "The Perfect Paleofantasy Diet: Milk", Zuk is discussing the process by which we as humans became able to digest milk past the weaning stage while many species can't. She is discussing how lactase persistence evolved when she states that "our own genome has evolved because of our cultural practices" (Zuk 102).
From my perspective, this statement really seems to sum up Zuk's objective for the book, which is to show how modern day humans are different from our prehistoric ancestors. Because we began to breed and raise cows in a way that would shorten the weaning process, it allowed us consume the milk they continued to produce. Thus by drinking the milk, selection was able to act in favor on those who could tolerate it without gastrointestinal issues. Zuk mentions that the gene formed anywhere from 2,200 to 20,000 years ago, a very short period of our history, which again shows just how rapidly the gene was able to spread throughout our population in persist in our genome today (Zuk 102). In this regard, we have definitely taken a step away from our ancestors. I look forward to discovering more of the authors enlightening and revealing information concerning our history.