Wounded King

Hello folks,

I have recently been made aware of this upcoming study in Science. The paper describes statistically significant elevated levels of prion protein heterozygosity in members of the Fore tribe where Kuru was widespread through ritual cannibalism. They then compare these results to prion gene frequencies in a number of other populations throughout the world. One of the tentative conlusions they come to is that the common occurrence of the two different prion alleles suggests that cannibalism may have been common in most ancestral human populations.

Anyone have any strong feelings on this issue?

Nic Tamzek

Yes. I am anti-cannabalism.



Oh, you were talking about prions? I don't know jack squat 'bout them.

Godot

There's no need to worry about cannibals. we ate the last one last Thursday.

Peez

I was not able to access the article, but I do not follow the logic. As I understand it, prion proteins are normal, in fact critical, proteins in healthy brains. The problems arise when some of the prion proteins become misfolded. When misfolded, they no longer function normally, and they also cause other prion proteins that they come into contact with to misfold. Thus, when a few misfolded prion proteins make their way into your brain, a chain reaction is started that ultimately compromises brain function. Kuru appears to have been spread by the eating of the brains of afflicted persons.

So I would expect prion proteins to be widespread, and not restricted to those places where prion diseases occur. However, I am no expert, and in any event I could not read the original article. Perhaps someone could tell me if I am barking up the wrong tree.

Peez

Godless Dave

It wouldn't surprise me. IIRC cannabalism has been observed in chimps but I don't know how frequent it is. The prion thing doesn't seem to be enough to go on though.

Wounded King

Dear Peez,

The point is not that there are prion proteins, obviously everyone has them. The point is that there is a specific pattern of heterozygosity in the prion protein alleles in surviving members of the Fore, suggesting this heterozygosity conferred some immunity from the ingested mutant prion protein.

They then go on to suggest that the pattern of heterozygosity in the prion alleles in other populations may reflect a previous history of cannibalism in ancestral populations.

Peez

Hi Wounded King,

Thank you for the clarification. It is an interesting hypothesis, did the article point to any populations without such heterozygosity? If all populations show substantial heterozygosity at this locus, it can hardly be used as evidence that cannibalism was involved.

Peez

Wounded King

Sadly I dont have the subscription neccessary for the Science express access to the pre publishing paper, I can only get the Science NOW! article, so I can't tell you.