Soft Sweeps Are the Dominant Mode of Adaptation in the Human Genome.

ABSTRACT: The degree to which adaptation in recent human evolution shapes genetic variation remains controversial. This is in part due to the limited evidence in humans for classic "hard selective sweeps", wherein a novel beneficial mutation rapidly sweeps through a population to fixation. However, positive selection may often proceed via "soft sweeps" acting on mutations already present within a population. Here, we examine recent positive selection across six human populations using a powerful machine learning approach that is sensitive to both hard and soft sweeps. We found evidence that soft sweeps are widespread and account for the vast majority of recent human adaptation. Surprisingly, our results also suggest that linked positive selection affects patterns of variation across much of the geno

SUBMITTER: Schrider DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5850737 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature