Pregnancy in humans is a process that is usually long and dangerous, unlike other mammals, and might have to do with a key reproductive gene. The progesterone hormone plays a vital role in mammal biology.
It promotes regulate every aspect of female reproduction, from implantation to menstruation, to pregnancy. And in humans, receptors have evolved in an unknown and unique way.
Progesterone is a hormone produced in the ovaries. It has a number of functions, but one of the most important functions is to cause thickening of the lining of the womb, to prepare the womb for a fertilized egg, i.e, to prepare the room for pregnancy.
Recent research has revealed the force of natural selection on this specific gene has been so venerable overall, that it’s accrued more that one harmful mutation along the way.” We expected something very different” biologist Vincent Lynch says from the University of Buffalo.
Today, there is different evidence on whether the progesterone receptor gene has been positively chosen for human evolution. While, some studies comparing mice, humans, and chimps tell us that this gene has gathered many benefits over time.
In generalized biology, progesterone receptor meditates multiple hormones’ functions in the body, and it promotes processes that maintain pregnancy by preventing uterine inflammation or contractions when comes in contact with one of the receptors. But in humans, the gene that tells how these receptors are formed shows differences.
The researchers have written in their papers, “We have found that human progesterone receptor forms have changed in function, suggesting the actions regulated by progesterone may also be different in humans.” Pregnancy is a very difficult and complex process to understand. And the mutation makes it even more complex.