Innovation in genetic variation research garners Jonathan Pritchard HHMI investigator appointment at University. HHMI = Howard Hughes Medical Institute. So when are we going to see him in Chicago Magazine? In any case:

In a 2006 paper, Pritchard and his colleagues described the identification of several hundred DNA regions in various human populations that show signals of selection. Included within those regions are genes that influence reproduction, olfaction and degradation of environmental toxins, skin pigmentation and skeletal development.

Using more extensive data that have recently become available, his group has been examining the relative roles of chance (which can lead to changes in the gene pool known as genetic drift) and selection in favoring these genes. "Selection may be a weaker force than we thought," he said. "It seems to be a combination of drift and selection acting together."

Things that make you go hmmmmm....