14 DAY TRIAL // Millions of years of evolution have brought the human race to the stage we are all living in today. Many distinct facial and bodily features differentiate us from our ancestors, whose fossils we uncovered over the years at various sites throughout the globe. Because of these differences, people thought for some time now that the future holds new evolutionary paths for humans to take. Some believe we will eventually evolve into pure energy, while others think humans will degenerate to lousy couch-potatoes.
But geneticists abruptly say that this is the end of our evolution. In a million years, researchers say, our descendants will look very much like we look today, only darker – that is to say, because of inter-racial breeding. In the last couple of hundred years, choosing a partner of different color has become more and more common and is currently regarded as a normal thing. Biologists say that mingling is inevitable, especially in the years to come.
Professor Steve Jones at University College London says that humans evolved up to this point by two means – natural selection and gene mutations. The first path allowed only the strong to survive, according to Darwin's theory, while those with low-quality genes disappeared in the mists of history. The second path implies mutations to occur in the genes under severe conditions in the environment. Extreme cold for instance could cause mutations, allowing individuals within a few generations to adapt and become immune to its effects, if living close to the poles.
But scientists are now afraid that both of these paths have been closed, mostly by our own doing. The ever growing ties between people, brought forth by the Communications Age, shorten distances between various population groups that would have otherwise remained isolated from each other. Genetic mutations for the purpose of adaptation become increasingly rare, as modern living conditions provide most individuals with all the basic comfort they need.
As a result, Earth's population will have the same gene pool for a very long time and cross-breeding will become unavoidable. That's why Jones says that "the future is brown," referring to the dominant race that will eventually walk the planet in a few thousand years.