The lactase gene codes for an enzyme that enables humans to digest the sugars in milk in adulthood. (Image credit: Oscar Wong via Getty Images) Indeed, the researchers went on to compare samples ...

Lactose is a form of sugar, or carbohydrate, found in milk and dairy products. This sugar is too large to be absorbed by the intestine, and is broken down by an enzyme, lactase, produced by the body.

“The work is interesting as many ethnic groups from Africa were studied and haplotypes were constructed that gave data about the migrations of the LP [lactase persistence] alleles,” Irma Järvelä of ...

This happens when the small intestine doesn't produce enough lactase, the enzyme needed to break down lactose. While the enzyme increases as we grow, it is produced in large quantities the body ...