Many people hold the view that evolution has stopped in modern humans. But while modern medicine and technology have changed the environment in which evolution operates, many scientists agree that the phenomenon is still ongoing.

This evolution may be less about survival and more about reproductive success in our current environment. Changes in gene frequencies due to factors such as cultural preferences, geographic migration, and even random events continue to shape the human genome.

“In some rare cases, we can see evolution in action, but over a time span of tens or hundreds of years, it’s mostly guesswork. We can make somewhat educated guesses, but the predictive power is low, so think of it as a thought experiment more than anything else.”

One thing we can say with certainty is that 50,000 years is more than enough time for several evolutionary changes to occur, albeit on a relatively small scale, according to Mailund.

“Really dramatic changes take longer, of course. We don’t grow wings or gills for millions of years, and we were anatomically modern humans 50,000 years ago.”

“Over the past 50,000 years, most of the variation that can be seen among human populations has evolved,” Hodgson said. “This includes all the variation in skin color seen around the world, all the variation in stature, all the variation in hair color and texture, etc. In fact, most of the variation we know so well has evolved within the last 10,000 years.”

In the more immediate future, Hodgson predicts that global populations will become more homogeneous and less structured in terms of genetics and phenotype—the observable traits of an individual.

“Nowadays there are phenotypes that we associate with geographical areas – for example, dark skin in Africans, light skin in Scandinavians, short stature in African hunter-gatherers dwarfs, tall stature in Dutch, etc. – maintained by diverse mating. they are more likely to choose friends who are similar to them,” he said.

“Part of this is due to the human history of migration and culture, which means that people tend to live with and be exposed to people who are more similar in relation to global differences. And some of this is due to a preference for similarity within local populations for reasons that which we still do not understand.

When different populations mix, their characteristics also change. Some traits are determined by several gene variants. But many traits are the result of a combination of various different genes, and that’s where Mailund says we’ll come together to some degree.

“So there will be some changes that are not due to selection, but because previously isolated groups are now mixing,” he said.

According to Nick Longrich, a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, it’s still possible that despite the increasing homogeneity, not everyone will evolve in the same direction.

“You could imagine that in different subpopulations you could get people to evolve in different ways,” he said.

If there are strong and consistent pressures on certain traits, our species could experience “very rapid evolution” on the order of thousands — or perhaps even hundreds — of years, Longrich said.

While we don’t know what the selective pressures will be going forward, Longrich said he expects a number of developments, extrapolating from past trends and current conditions.

For example, we may be taller because of sexual selection. And we might also become more attractive on average because sexual selection plays a bigger role in modern society than natural selection.

“Attractiveness is relative, so we might look like movie stars, but if everyone looked like that, it wouldn’t be anything special,” he said.

As time goes on and technology develops, it’s also possible that humans will begin to direct our own evolution in targeted ways through gene-editing tools like CRISPR—potentially with the help of artificial intelligence.

“The application of genetic techniques to humans that alter phenotypes is highly controversial and ethically challenging. Indeed, 20th-century eugenicists thought they could improve the human species by allowing only the ‘right’ people to reproduce,” Hodgson said.

“However, given 50,000 years, it is almost inconceivable to me that humans will not eventually apply this technology to our species. We can only hope that by then the technology and ethics will be much better understood.”

“I believe things like appearance will be largely up to our own choice at this time. Technologies like CRISPR or technologies yet to be invented will allow us to choose many things about our appearance. I can even imagine that our looks can change generations the way fashion changes now.”

Today, we are in the infancy of genetic modification, but progress in this field is rapid and constantly evolving.

“Over the course of the next century, I expect we will improve the technology,” Mailund said. “We already have the tools to edit genes, and the main obstacle is a lack of understanding of the implications of gene editing. As we learn more, we will be more confident in what we can do, although I expect ethical considerations will hold us back.” for a while it won’t be forever.”