Big Picture

Fast fact #19

#19: Losing a gene can be a good thing. A mutated caspase-12 gene has been selected for during human history; it may make us less likely to suffer from sepsis.

Genes
Evolution

Bibliography

Source: Xue et al. Am J Hum Genet 2006;78:659-70.
Originally published in The Big Picture Little Book of Fast Facts
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Teaching-and-education/Big-Picture/All-issues/Special-Fast-Facts-book/index.htm

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