Cannibalism was common throughout the world

New genetic research: the phenomenon was common in human society in the past; The discovery - following the discovery of a gene among ethnic groups that indicates eating human flesh; The gene created a vaccine against brain diseases caused by eating infected meat

Cannibalism was common in the past in human society, among all ethnic groups. This is according to a new genetic study published by scientists from Great Britain, Australia and Papua New Guinea. The researchers, who sought to test the body's natural immunity against diseases that damage the brain and are called prion diseases, discovered that a mutation that prevents infection with these diseases is very common among the entire population of the planet. According to the researchers, the mutation was intended to protect humans who ate their own kind. Its prevalence in the general population suggests a widespread phenomenon of cannibalism among humans. In the study, published in the journal "Science", it is further explained that the prevalence of the mutation provides further proof of the correctness of Charles Darwin's "natural selection" theory.

In studies conducted in recent years, it became clear that people who eat humans are exposed to prion diseases, such as "Kuro" and "Kreutzfeldt Jacob". These diseases are not transmitted by bacteria or viruses, but are caused by eating food that contains infected proteins. Humans can also become infected with prion diseases as a result of eating meat from infected animals. For example, people who ate meat that was infected with the "mad cow" disease, became infected with the human version of the disease - "Creutzfeldt Jacob". However, according to the researchers, prion diseases are transmitted more quickly as a result of eating infected human flesh.

To date, no unequivocal proof of the existence of cannibalism in the early days of mankind has been found. However, archaeological findings - such as human bones from 800-500 thousand years ago that were found in Holland and Spain after undergoing a process of slaughter, as well as remains of human parts cooked in America in the 12th century - suggest that people from different cultures used to eat their own kind.

The British were "vaccinated" from the mad cow
Researchers have also found evidence of cannibalism in the 20th century. In 1920, a mysterious disease began to affect the fertile people. Until the 60s, about 200 members of the tribe died from the disease every year. It seems that the disease was spread when the children of the tribe licked their fingers, after playing with the uncooked brains of the dead. One of her main symptoms was uncontrollable laughter, that's why the tribesmen called her the "laughter disease". Genetic tests carried out in the West revealed that it is a "kuro" disease caused by food that contains infected proteins.

The team of researchers found that the disease had completely disappeared among the members of the tribe born after 1950. The scientists performed DNA tests on 30 of the women of the tribe, and discovered that 23 of them had one copy of a normal prion gene and one with a mutation known as "M129V". They concluded that the members of the tribe had adapted to themselves a natural vaccine against the disease. After that, DNA tests were conducted for 2,000 people from different parts of the world. It turned out that regardless of the place of residence, a very high percentage of subjects have in their genetic load the mutation that serves as a protector against prion diseases.

From the experiments, the researchers concluded that as a result of epidemics that occurred throughout human history - and the cause of which was cannibalism - most people were naturally vaccinated against prion diseases that damage the brain. It turns out in the research, that half of the British are naturally vaccinated against these diseases. According to one of the heads of the team, Dr. Simon Mead, the "natural vaccine" is one of the explanations for why very few Britons have fallen ill with the "mad cow" disease to date; Of the 50 million people who were exposed to the disease, 134 Britons have fallen ill to date with the human version of the disease - "Jacob Creutzfeldt".