When the phenomenal Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, two years ahead of schedule and fifty years after the discovery of the structure of DNA, it looked like we had all diseases nailed. A simple DNA test would reveal which disease you were most likely to fall victim to, so you could pre-empt your nemesis. Forewarned is forearmed.
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Along with chronic diseases, something else is starting to surface, something less visible but arguably more sinister. The human brain is shrinking, as confirmed by a body of research that has been accumulating since 1988. This shrinkage — atrophy — began during the Epipaleolithic period, which was the transitional period between hunter-gathering and agriculture, and remains an ongoing phenomenon. Over the last 20,000 years, average brain size has decreased by 10%. What’s even more alarming is that the last 4,000–6,000 years have witnessed an acceleration of this atrophy.
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