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6 • Thursday, January 9, 2025 Why do we love carbs?
The origins predate agriculture and maybe even our split from Neanderthals

If you’ve ever struggled to re- starch you can digest ef- present-day humans, pro- the lead authors on this study from to their starch-rich diets. Gokcu-
duce your carb intake, ancient DNA fectively,” says the viding a clearer picture of the Lee Lab at JAX. men’s previous research showed
might be to blame. study's corresponding au- how AMY1 duplications “The initial duplications in our that domesticated animals living
It has long been known that hu- thor, Omer Gokcumen, evolved. genomes laid the groundwork for alongside humans, such as dogs
mans carry multiple copies of a PhD, professor in the De- Analyzing the ge- significant variation in the amylase and pigs, also have higher amylase
gene that allows us to begin break- partment of Biological nomes of 68 ancient hu- region, allowing humans to adapt to gene copy numbers compared to
ing down complex carbohydrate Sciences, within the UB mans, including a shifting diets as starch consumption animals not reliant on starch-heavy
starch in the mouth, providing the College of Arts and Sci- 45,000-year-old sample rose dramatically with the advent of diets.
first step in metabolizing starchy ences. from Siberia, the re- new technologies and lifestyles,” “Individuals with higher AMY1
foods like bread and pasta. Howev- Amylase, the re- search team found that Gokcumen adds. copy numbers were likely digesting
er, it has been notoriously difficult searchers explain, is an “The initial dupli- pre-agricultural hunter- The seeds of genetic variation starch more efficiently and having
for researchers to determine how enzyme that not only cations in our ge- gatherers already had an The initial duplication of AMY1 more offspring,” Gokcumen says.
and when the number of these genes breaks down starch into nomes laid the average of four to eight was like the first ripple in a pond, “Their lineages ultimately fared
expanded. glucose, but also gives groundwork for AMY1 copies per dip- creating a genetic opportunity that better over a long evolutionary
Now, a new study led by the bread its taste. significant varia- loid cell, suggesting that later shaped our species. As humans timeframe than those with lower
University at Buffalo and the Jack- Gokcumen and his tion in the amy- humans were already spread across different environ- copy numbers, propagating the
son Laboratory (JAX), reveals how colleagues, including co- lase region, walking around Eurasia ments, the flexibility in the number number of the AMY1 copies.”
the duplication of this gene – known senior author, Charles allowing humans with a wide variety of of AMY1 copies provided an advan- The findings track with a Uni-
as the salivary amylase gene Lee, professor and Robert to adapt to shift- high AMY1 copy num- tage for adapting to new diets, par- versity of California, Berkeley-led
(AMY1) – may not only have Alvine Family Endowed ing diets as starch bers well before they ticularly those rich in starch. study published in Nature, which
helped shape human adaptation to Chair at JAX, used opti- consumption rose started domesticating “Following the initial duplica- found that humans in Europe ex-
starchy foods, but may have oc- cal genome mapping and dramatically with plants and eating excess tion, leading to three AMY1 copies panded their average number of
curred as far back as more than long-read sequencing, a the advent of new amounts of starch. in a cell, the amylase locus became AMY1 copies from four to seven
800,000 years ago, long before the methodological break- technologies and The study also found unstable and began creating new over the last 12,000 years.
advent of farming. through crucial to map- lifestyles. ” that AMY1 gene dupli- variations," says Charikleia Kara- “Given the key role of AMY1
Reported in the Oct. 17, 2024 ping the AMY1 gene cations occurred in Ne- georgiou, one of the lead authors of copy number variation in human
advanced online issue of Science, region in extraordinary Omer Gokcumen, anderthals and the study at UB. “From three AMY1 evolution, this genetic variation
the study ultimately showcases how detail. Traditional short- professor of bio- Denisovans. copies, you can get all the way up to presents an exciting opportunity to
early duplications of this gene set read sequencing methods logical sciences “This suggests that nine copies, or even go back to one explore its impact on metabolic
the stage for the wide genetic varia- struggle to accurately dis- University at Buf- the AMY1 gene may copy per haploid cell.” health and uncover the mechanisms
tion that still exists today, influenc- tinguish between gene falo College of have first duplicated The complicated involved in starch digestion and
ing how effectively humans digest copies in this region due Arts and Sciences more than 800,000 years legacy of farming glucose metabolism,” says Feyza
starchy foods. to their near-identical se- ago, well before humans The research also highlights Yilmaz, an associate computational
“The idea is that the more amy- quence. However, long-read se- split from Neanderthals and much how agriculture impacted AMY1 scientist at JAX and a lead author
lase genes you have, the more amy- quencing allowed Gokcumen and further back than previously variation. While early hunter-gath- of the study. “Future research could
lase you can produce and the more Lee to overcome this challenge in thought,” says Kwondo Kim, one of erers had multiple gene copies, Eu- reveal its precise effects and timing
ropean farmers saw a surge in the of selection, providing critical in-
average number of AMY1 copies sights into genetics, nutrition, and
over the past 4,000 years, likely due health.”

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD!
Theme - SNOW DAY

ACROSS DOWN
1. Larger-than-life 1. Odds' partners
5. Capone's family 2. Tubby little cubby
8. Wild swine 3. "He's Just Not That ____ You"
12. "You're not allowed," to a baby 4. Of the same period
13. Deal with it 5. *Popular Snow Day pastime
14. Cunningly 6. Some tournaments
15. Shower with affection 7. Zugspitze, e.g.
16. Allege 8. *Severe weather
17. City in Belgium 9. Deed hearing
18. *Snow Day exercise? 10. Algae, sing.
20. Poet Pound 11. Marble bread
21. Ovine sign of the zodiac 13. ____ Jack, English pirate
22. Tasseled hat 14. *As opposed to rain
23. All together (2 words) 19. Irregular
26. Military College of South 22. Type of conifer
Carolina, with The
23. Musketeers' swords
30. For every
24. High-strung
31. a.k.a. association football
25. Cerebellum location
34. *All-day Snow Day garb?
26. Unit of life
35. Delete
27. Students' dwellings
37. Crude fuel
28. *Snow Day reading choice
38. Read-only disc
29. Helping theorem
39. Good's counterpart
32. *Like soft pj's
40. Popular flowering shrub
33. Intelligence org.
42. Female ancestor
36. *Slope fun
43. Two heads are better than one, 38. Shorter than California
e.g.
40. Number of years
45. Bering Strait state
41. No, it doesn't crawl in one's ear
47. Rudolph's Clarice, e.g.
44. Horse of certain color, pl.
48. Like thick smoke
46. Spontaneous additions
50. Fountain option
48. Obtuse one
52. *No two are alike, sing.
49. Tom Cruise's "The ____ of
56. Surround (2 words)
Money"
57. Tangerine plus grapefruit
50. Highway hauler
58. *Like a river, with over
51. Bad sign
59. #51 Down, pl.
52. Of a particular kind
60. Heidi's "Magic Wooden Shoe"
53. Smoothie berry
61. Olufsen's partner
54. Superman's last name
62. Sound of a bell
55. Part of a seat
63. Not him
56. *Like chocolate on a Snow Day
64. Surfer's stop
Answers on page 7