Once controversial when Darwin first developed his theory, it is now almost universally accepted that humans evolved from apes and earlier ancestors by a process of natural selection that ensured the traits of the fittest were passed on while others were discarded. But many now argue that this process which led to the 'success' of the human species has ceased to apply to humans, because almost all of us survive to child bearing age. Leading primatologists and geneticists maintain 'modern nutrition and medicine have removed the selection pressure driving human evolution', with the result that 'natural selection no longer has death as a handy tool'. The prize winning scientist Freeman Dyson concluded 'the epoch of Darwinian evolution ended about ten thousand years ago'.
Is natural selection over and humans at greater risk of succumbing to a new threat or pathogen due to a less adapted gene pool? Is our evolution now driven by culture and technology and do we need a radical overhaul of our evolutionary theory as a consequence? Or is the case mistaken, human evolution through natural selection alive and well, and continuing to determine the future of the human race?