Good Traits Gone Bad

Scientists argue that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common hormone condition in women, was once beneficial to primate evolution. PCOS traits helped the human body store extra fat when food was hard to find and people used more energy to stay alive, which helped with survival. Today, these same traits are harmful because we live in a world where high‑calorie foods are everywhere and people don’t move around as much. Women with PCOS today tend to gain too much fat, develop problems like diabetes, make too much testosterone, and suffer infertility. Scientists study female rhesus macaques that have naturally occurring PCOS to understand how ancient humans developed these traits over time that persist today.

These scientists argue against it in the article, “The Endocrinological Basis for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: An Evolutionary Perspective,”

the latest featured article in the journal Endocrinology.