2023-12-12 17:32:25
In a surprising turn of events, science reveals to us that our own cells, coated with sugarr, they played a role key in human evolution, particularly in how we deal with illnesses. This sweet cellular mantle is more than a biological decoration; It is a vestige of our fight for survival.
How did cellular sugar help humanity?
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, led by professors Ajit and Nissi Varki, have delved into the mysterious world of glycans, sugar chains that adorn the surface of our cells, and the sialic acids that crown them. These sugary structures aren’t just a minor detail; are involved in the regulation of immune response and key adaptations in human evolution. For example, our ancestors’ ability to run long distances without fatigue gave them a significant evolutionary advantage.
Sialic acids are known to all vertebrates, however, humans lost the ability to produce a specific form of this acid, called Neu5Gc, approximately 3 million years ago, distinguishing us from our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. .
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What role do sialic acids play in diseases?
These small sugary structures also play a leading role in the disease susceptibility exclusive to humans such as typhus, cholera and certain sexually transmitted diseases. Pathogens disguise themselves with human sialic acid to evade our immune system, a camouflage tactic that has had profound implications for our evolutionary history.
Furthermore, it has been discovered that the abundance of Neu5Ac sialic acid could be related to a greater ease of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, causing Covid-19, to bind to animal cells, suggesting an important role in the pathology and severity of the disease in susceptible animals, including humans.
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What implications does this have on our daily lives?
The research on Neu5Gc and Neu5Ac does not stop at infectious diseases. This sialic acid is also found in red meat and its excessive consumption could be linked to an increased risk of cancer and cases of human infertility. Our body incorporates Neu5Gc into our tissues even though our immune system recognizes it as an intruder, leading to inflammation and, over time, an increased risk of developing cancer.
But it doesn’t all come down to biology. Ajit Varki and Pascal Gagneux, in their study of human originss, emphasize that we are as shaped by our cultural heritage as by our genes and biology.
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What does the biology of sugar reveal to us about menopause?
Sialic acids could also offer an explanation for the phenomenon of menopause, almost unique to humans. There is a modified version of a genetic sugar receptor known as CD33, which is protective against Alzheimer’s, and which could originate from an adaptation against diseases such as gonorrhea. This relationship between the biology of sugars and diseases shows us how even aspects of our evolution that seemed disconnected are, in fact, intimately linked.
Each discovery in the field of glycans and sialic acids sheds light on how infectious diseases have directly shaped our species, but also about how these tiny sugary molecules can have repercussions on cultural processes that have nothing to do with the disease.
Human evolution, influenced by the ‘sweet’ world of sugars in our cells, continues to be a fascinating field that challenges our notions of disease and survival.
To continue exploring how our sugar cells have contributed to human evolution, visit resources such as the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogenesis and articles in specialized scientific publications.
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