GENE EVOLUTION: Cannibalism and Prion Disease May Have Been Rampant in Ancient Humans

doi:10.1126/science.300.5617.227a

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Biology

Science 11 April 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5617, pp. 227 - 228
DOI: 10.1126/science.300.5617.227a

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GENE EVOLUTION:
Cannibalism and Prion Disease May Have Been Rampant in Ancient Humans

Elizabeth Pennisi

Epidemics of prion diseases--possibly spread by cannibalism--plagued prehistoric humans, a team proposes online in Science this week. Analysis of the worldwide distribution of the prion gene suggests that two gene variants have undergone "balancing selection" through exposure to toxic prions.

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In Science Magazine

REPORTS Balancing Selection at the Prion Protein Gene Consistent with Prehistoric Kurulike Epidemics: Simon Mead, Michael P. H. Stumpf, Jerome Whitfield, Jonathan A. Beck, Mark Poulter, Tracy Campbell, James B. Uphill, David Goldstein, Michael Alpers, Elizabeth M. C. Fisher, and John Collinge (25 April 2003)
Science 300 (5619), 640. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1083320]
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