Question

Please explain w/ as much detail as possible! Thank you! :

Say you have a very deleterious condition that normally NS would act against and that individual would not reproduce, therefore its allele would be removed from the gene pool, however due to modern medicine that individual reproduces, that allele is kept. Is this causing humans to have a weaker genes? Are humans become less fit? Explain.

Answer 1

The human beings that are best adapted to the environment (or are fittest) passed on their alleles to the generations. Those genes that were extinct earlier and stopped reproducing, they could be able to reproduce because of modern medicine, and the chances of survival have increased. It is certainly beneficial for human who could not contribute to the gene pool due to unsuccessful reproduction. The genes who have very less capacity to fight diseases,or in other words they are weaker, they increase in number when get successful in reproduction.

Due to reproduction by medicines, there are more chances of mutation and mutative genes to get introduced in the gene pool at higher frequency. Hence more variations are possible to the population due to genetic mutations. Modern medicine has increased the chances of survival rate and average life expectancy has also increased.

So, the answer is yes, due to implication of medicine the reproduction possibility increases and gene can survive in generations. Mutant individuals may have increased risk of birth defects. They may be weaker in comparison to other normally reproduced ones. They may be less fit. But due to medicine, their survival may also be increased. They can be made successful to adapt the environment.