title: High frequency of lactose intolerance in a prehistoric hunter-gatherer population in northern Europe.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genes and culture are believed to interact, but it has been difficult to find direct evidence for the process. One candidate example that has been put forward is lactase persistence in adulthood, i.e. the ability to continue digesting the milk sugar lactose after childhood, facilitating the consumption of raw milk. This genetic trait is believed to have evolved within a short time period and to be related with the emergence of sedentary agriculture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we investigate the frequency of an allele (-13910*T) associated with lactase persistence in a Neolithic Scandinavian population. From the 14 individuals originally examined, 10 yielded reliable results. We find that the T allele frequency was very low (5%) in this Middle Neolithic hunter-gatherer population, and that the frequency is dramatically different from the extant Swedish population (74%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that this difference in frequency could not have arisen by genetic drift and is either due to selection or, more likely, replacement of hunter-gatherer populations by sedentary agriculturalists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malmström
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linderholm
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lidén
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Storå
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holmlund
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Götherström
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D043322:Lactase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007787:Lactose Intolerance / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D043322:Lactase