Early human mutation helped our species become great distant runners – BGR

Humans are not the fastest animals on the planet, so you may not think that running is something special. After all, there are many four-legged creatures that make us ashamed, but humans have a different racing specialty that makes us truly unique: endurance.

Humans are actually fantastic long distance runners, even compared to other animals that have a higher gross speed, but why? A new study by researchers at the University of California San Diego attempted to answer this question. Their conclusions were published in the journal Acts of the Royal Society B.

Scientists have focused on a specific gene – or rather lack thereof – to account for the impressive capabilities of remote racing humans. It is believed that a mutation that caused the loss of the gene called CMAH in early human ancestors occurred around the same time that these early groups began to become specialists in the field. marathon.

These changes, including the legs and feet that are excellent for maintaining speed, as well as the increase in sweat glands that manage heat and keep humans longer, seemed to be related to the mutation that eliminated the CMAH gene. Even if the evidence was compelling, the researchers needed a way to test this theory. So they raised mice that also lacked the gene and put them to the test.

"We evaluated the exercise capacity (mice lacking the CMAH gene) and noted increased performance during treadmill tests and after 15 days of voluntary rolling," said Jon Okerblom, lead author of the work. Changes in animals when they grew up without the CMAH gene seem to have given them better sporting performance, and this is a great sign that researchers are on the right track.

However, the loss of the CMAH gene was not universally beneficial for humans. Scientists suspect that the mutation that eliminated the gene has, in a roundabout way, made humans more prone to developing type 2 diabetes, and even increased our risk of cancer by eating red meat.

"They are a double-edged sword," says Ajit Varki, lead author of the study. "The consequence of a single gene lost and a small molecular change that seems to have profoundly altered human biology and abilities going back to our origins."

So we can run longer and longer, but hamburgers could kill us. Man, nature is weird.