Front. Physiol., 24 October 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00812
Are We Reaching the Limits of Homo sapiens?
Adrien Marck1,2, Juliana Antero1, Geoffroy Berthelot1,3,4, Guillaume Saulière1, Jean-Marc Jancovici5, Valérie Masson-Delmotte6, Gilles Boeuf7, Michael Spedding8, Éric Le Bourg9 and Jean-François Toussaint1,3,10*
1Institut de Recherche bio-Médicale et d'Epidémiologie du Sport (IRMES) EA 7329, Institut National du Sport, de l'Expertise et de la Performance, Université Paris Descartes, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
2Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, UMR 7057 Université Paris Diderot, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
3Group Adaptation and Prospective, High Council of Public Health, Paris, France
4Research Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Studies, Paris, France
5Carbone 4, Paris, France
6Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CEA-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
7Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France
8IUPHAR and Spedding Research Solutions SAS, Le Vésinet, France
9Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université de Toulouse, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
10Centre d'Investigations en Médecine du Sport (CIMS), Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
Source/Fonte: Daniel Lee
Abstract
Echoing scientific and industrial progress, the Twentieth century was an unprecedented period of improvement for human capabilities and performances, with a significant increase in lifespan, adult height, and maximal physiological performance. Analyses of historical data show a major slow down occurring in the most recent years. This triggered large and passionate debates in the academic scene within multiple disciplines; as such an observation could be interpreted as our upper biological limits. Such a new phase of human history may be related to structural and functional limits determined by long term evolutionary constraints, and the interaction between complex systems and their environment. In this interdisciplinary approach, we call into question the validity of subsequent forecasts and projections through innovative and related biomarkers such as sport, lifespan, and height indicators. We set a theoretical framework based on biological and environmental relevance rather than using a typical single-variable forecasting approach. As demonstrated within the article, these new views will have major social, economical, and political implications.
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