• ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    “See color better” is because 30+ million years ago one of our ancestors was born with a chromosomal mutation that duplicated the DNA sequence for the red/green cone cells in the retina. That individual had the same color perception as everybody else, but over millions of years the duplicated sequences were able to diverge their peak wavelength receptivities into red and green respectively, allowing better discrimination of colors in that range.

    Interestingly, that individual 30+ million years ago would likely have shown characteristics similar to today’s Down’s Syndrome people, due to the chromosomal duplication. It’s a prime example of why eugenics is so horrifically misguided.