Observatoire des droits humains (anglais seulement)

Why we haven’t evolved better knees – new research

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Michael Berthaume, Reader in the Department of Engineering, King's College London

The groans of pain as we get up from the sofa or the sound of crunching cartilage when taking the stairs are all too familiar. Many of us look down at our aching knees and curse them – wondering why they seemingly evolved to hurt so much. But the human knee has a complex evolutionary history. And new research is showing how misunderstood it is.

The knee has undergone major changes to its size and shape, not only to allow early humans to walk upright, but also to differentiate us (Homo sapiens) from our extinct genetic relatives, such as Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis…

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