Cannibal tribe resistant to brain diseases, scientists find
Postmedia Network
First posted: Friday, June 12, 2015 12:24 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, June 12, 2015 12:34 PM EDT
A tribe of cannibals in Papua New Guinea — whose tradition for generations was to eat the brains of their deceased relatives — might have given themselves a genetic leg up for their own brains.
The practice has been outlawed since the 1950s, but members of the Fore people now show resistance to several fatal brain diseases, including mad cow disease and some cases of dementia.
Ironically, the practice now credited with giving them a unique resistance almost killed them first, according to the study published this week in the journal Nature.
Researchers found the cannibal traditions spread a fatal brain disease called kuru through the tribe. It hit women of the tribe especially hard.
By the time brain-eating was outlawed, many believed the tribe was doomed for extinction — only a handful of young women were left alive.
A team of researchers first found in 2009 the members of the Fore tribe had a protective mutation. Follow-up research showed evidence of a single gene that's apparently helped block several degenerative brain disorders.
Cannibal tribe resistant to brain diseases, scientists find | Weird | News | Tor
Postmedia Network
First posted: Friday, June 12, 2015 12:24 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, June 12, 2015 12:34 PM EDT
A tribe of cannibals in Papua New Guinea — whose tradition for generations was to eat the brains of their deceased relatives — might have given themselves a genetic leg up for their own brains.
The practice has been outlawed since the 1950s, but members of the Fore people now show resistance to several fatal brain diseases, including mad cow disease and some cases of dementia.
Ironically, the practice now credited with giving them a unique resistance almost killed them first, according to the study published this week in the journal Nature.
Researchers found the cannibal traditions spread a fatal brain disease called kuru through the tribe. It hit women of the tribe especially hard.
By the time brain-eating was outlawed, many believed the tribe was doomed for extinction — only a handful of young women were left alive.
A team of researchers first found in 2009 the members of the Fore tribe had a protective mutation. Follow-up research showed evidence of a single gene that's apparently helped block several degenerative brain disorders.
Cannibal tribe resistant to brain diseases, scientists find | Weird | News | Tor
