Genetic Links Between Human Diet and Brain Evolution

The ecology, behavior and genetics of our closest living relatives, the nonhuman primates, should help us to understand the evolution of our own lineage. In this talk, we describe genetic variation at the malaria-related FY (DARC) gene in a well-studied population of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, the role this gene plays in the prevention of malaria in baboons, and potential evolutionary parallels between this gene region and its human homolog.