Comments on: Why Can’t Humans Produce Neu5Gc?

By: cam

cam — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:37:23 +0000

But don’t some human populations subsist on diets lacking mammals (fish, birds, reptiles and insects and oceanic inverts)? Further, aren’t there enough people on vegan diets for and that have been doing so for long enough to get some idea of how much this Neu5Gc inflammatory response may be adversely affecting health?

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:58:59 +0000

Can someone explain the advantage of not producing either vitamin C or Neu5Gc? So far it only seems disadvantageous–scury, malaria, stroke, increased cancer. Don’t mutations have to confer a competitive advantage to advance? With all of these competitive disadvantages how did the inability to produce these substances become part of our genetic heritage?

By: Teresa

Teresa — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:50:38 +0000

We don’t make vitamin C either..

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By: Alex Bjarnason (TheMonkeyMan)

Alex Bjarnason (TheMonkeyMan) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:11:00 +0000

Oh dear, my masters thesis was entitled “great ape and human phylogeny”…….. I fear the program missed me out :-(

By: Kambiz

Kambiz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:02:11 +0000

Humans are considered to be Great Apes, Bob. Get with the program.

By: Bob Daszkiewicz

Bob Daszkiewicz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:55:41 +0000

Please examine carefully the logic of “great apes other than humans”. Is somebody here self-incriminating?

By: Amiya Sarkar

Amiya Sarkar — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:26:38 +0000

Regarding Neu5Ac and absence of malaria resembles another ailment in which such a thing is seen. In sickle cell anemia trait (HbS) malarial invasion is not seen.
Absence of Neu5Gc and presence of its antibody is analogous to the blood group antigens. For example, persons of blood group A, have A antigen; A antibody is absent.
Sialic acid, a highly negatively charged substance found in the glycocalyx, is responsible for repulsion of blood cells, thus not allowing them to stick to the blood vessel endothelium and prevents aggregation.

By: Luis

Luis — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:57:21 +0000

All right, thanks. I had the impression from the post you were talking of all sorts of cancer. An inflammatory response is something different, I understand, of more limited scope.

By: Kambiz

Kambiz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:25:01 +0000

I caught that too, Luis.

I know other animals do get cancer, but as I understand it Dr. Varki thinks that since we don’t make Neu5Gc, our bodies make an anti-Neu5Gc antibody to any foreign Neu5Gc which causes an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is associated with many cancers, such as colorectal cancers… which is not seen in animals who can produce Neu5Gc.

Kambiz