'Benign' malaria key driver of human evolution in Asia-Pacific

The malaria species rampant in the Asia-Pacific region has been a significant driver of evolution of the human genome, a new study has shown. An international team of researchers has shown that Plasmodium vivax malaria, the most prevalent malaria species in the Asia-Pacific, is a significant cause of genetic evolution that provides protection against malaria.

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-benign-malaria-key-driver-human.html#jCp

How infectious disease may have shaped human origins

Mutations in immune-related genes resulting in increased resistance to pathogens may have shaped human evolution, promulgating the explosion and expansion of the human population 100, 000 years ago.