May 7 : Indigenous people in the Andes domesticated the potato – a great source of starch, vitamins, minerals and fiber – 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, making this tuber a central part of their diet. These people then experienced genetic adaptations beneficial for such a diet that are still seen in their descendants living in Peru. New genomic research documents how these descendants – speakers of the Quechua language of the once-great Inca Empire – underwent fortification involving a gene called AMY1 that is involved in starch digestion, a function useful for people with a potato-centric diet. The study found that these people possess an average of 10 copies of AMY1 – two to four more than most people. No other known population globally exceeds that number. The study also showed that the onset of these genetic changes in this population coincided with the advent of potato domestication. “It is a wonderful case of culture shaping biology,” said evolutionary and anthropological geneticist Omer Gokcumen of the University at Buffalo, one of the senior authors …