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Lactose and Lactase

Lactose is milk sugar; the enzyme lactase breaks it down. For want of lactase most adults cannot digest milk. In populations that drink milk the adults have more lactase, perhaps through natural selection

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Scientific American Magazine Vol 227 Issue 4This article was originally published with the title “Lactose and Lactase” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 227 No. 4 (), p. 70
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1072-70