Why don't people eat the same kind? Prions, which have a fatality rate of up to 100%, have become one of the main reasons for the "ban on cannibalism".
In the history of human development, except for particularly serious famine disasters and when cities were besieged for too long, people were forced to choose to eat people.
But in general, people will only eat dead corpses, directly attack their companions, and eat meat after killing the living, only perverted murderers do it.
But in the animal kingdom, there are many cases of eating the same kind, such as the well-known praying mantis, and the female praying mantis will eat the male mantis as a nutrient for egg-laying after mating.
Some people may ask, why are they all animals, but people do not have the habit of cannibalism, is it just because human intelligence is more advanced?
In fact, the reason why humans do not eat human flesh is mainly because of biological problems, cannibalism can lead to disease outbreaks, the culprit of which is the notorious prion.
In the 1950s, scientists discovered a strange tribe on the islands of Papua Guinea in Oceania.
The lifestyle of the inhabitants here is very primitive, many of them suffer from a special disease, slurred speech, shaky walking, trembling limbs, and facial movements and expressions that are not controlled by the brain.
Scientists call this disease Kuru disease, but if it is just that, it is not terrible, when the disease develops to the end, the patient's facial expression will be very terrifying, and even suddenly laugh wildly, the body will completely lose control, and eventually die of a violent illness.
What is even more strange is that most of the patients are young women and children, but those who are weak and sickly are not prone to disease, which is inconsistent with common sense.
Scientists initially judged that there was a problem with the patient's brain, so they dissected some of the deceased. As a result, scientists found that the deceased's brain tissue had a large number of holes, like a bug gnawing on it, which looked like a sponge.
After repeated analysis and research, scientists extracted a special substance in the brain tissue of the deceased, which is the prion.
A virus is a special microorganism composed of genetic material and proteins, nucleic acids form the core, which may be DNA, or RNA, and proteins make up the shell.
Viruses cannot reproduce in their natural environment and must rely on a living host to continue to survive, otherwise they will be dormant.
The scary thing about prions is that unlike other viruses, it has no DNA and RNA, and it looks like an ordinary protein, much like a prion protein inherent in the human body.
Therefore, when prions invade the human body, the immune system is tricked and will not respond, so that prions can quickly complete replication and reproduction, destroying human health.
As for why the tribe fell ill en masse, scientists believe it had something to do with their cannibalistic customs.
It turns out that the tribe has maintained a centuries-old tradition that after the death of a respected old man, out of respect for them, the tribe will decompose and eat the corpse of the old man.
According to the rules of superiority and inferiority in the tribe, older people eat parts with higher muscle content, and younger women and children can only use other parts.
People with the lowest status get brain tissue, and prions attack the brain first, and a large number of viruses remain after death, which is the fundamental reason why women and children are more likely to get sick.
It has to be said that some bad habits are really very harmful, and it is not surprising that the primitive tribal residents generally do not have a high life expectancy.
