We are naturally selected to be drunks, and …

_{Denyse O'Leary

December 3, 2014

Natural selection, News}

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And Darwin, we are informed, has left the building.

Study shows pre-human ancestors adapted to metabolize ethanol long before humans learned about fermentation

Humans have been consuming beverages that make them tipsy, drunk and/or sick for a very long time, of that there is little doubt. But why do we have the ability to metabolize ethanol in the first place? That’s what the team set out to answer. They began by sequencing an enzyme called ADH4—it’s what’s responsible for allowing us to metabolize ethanol. Other primates have it as well, but not all metabolize ethanol as well as we do. By sequencing ADH4 found in a 28 mammal species including 17 that were primates, the team was able to create a family tree of sorts based on ethanol metabolizing ability. The team then tested those sequences for their metabolizing ability by synthesizing nine kinds of the ADH4 enzyme. Doing so showed the researchers that most early primates had very little ability to metabolize ethanol for most of their early history.

Then, about 10 million years ago, some of the ancestors of modern humans suddenly were able to do a much better job of it, while others that diverged and led to apes such as orangutans, did not. This discovery led the team to wonder what might have occurred to cause this to come about. They note that other evidence has shown that around this same time, the planet cooled slightly, making life a little more difficult for our tree dwelling ancestors. They suggest they began climbing down out of the trees to eat the fruit that fell, which gave them a food advantage and a reason for developing the ability to metabolize ethanol—otherwise they would have become too drunk from eating the fermenting fruit to defend themselves or live otherwise normal lives. If true, the theory would also offer a major clue as to why our ancestors became terrestrial.

And it isn’t even April 1. Hmmm.

If this story means a lot to you, phone Alcoholics Anonymous.

For our other excellent readers, please note, News blogging will be light today until the News desk finishes up at a day job.

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Hat tip: Timothy Kershner

Comments

They suggest they began climbing down out of the trees to eat the fruit that fell, which gave them a food advantage and a reason for developing the ability to metabolize ethanol—otherwise they would have become too drunk from eating the fermenting fruit to defend themselves or live otherwise normal lives.
Don't ya just luv them thar scientific explanations?!! Where oh where would we be without evolutionists to explain things for us dumb IDers?!! lol! Sheesh! The bar for what passes for science these days seems to be getting lower and lower! Is there even a bar left? Oh yeah, anything having to do with intelligence cannot clear the bar. But when you leave out intelligence, look what you are left with! Idiotic explanations like this! tjguy

Sooo, we evolved to be terrestrial to eat more spoiled fruit? Did we also invent the automobile to make easier to drive to pups? Friends don't let friends climb trees drunk. Edward

geoffrobinson 4 Quoting from the first link ...
... each of the 1,070 different genes produced a different tree—1,070 plus 1 different trees. It was, as one evolutionist admitted “a bit shocking.”
I like that. "A bit shocking". Trying to understate the "shocking" part. "I had a little bit of a heart-attack when I saw the results. But it wasn't a big deal aside from that." The poor guy should have realized "this is nothing new, evolutionary theory clearly predicted 1,070 different trees. That's exactly the pattern we'd expect from unguided evolution - so obviously, the theory is 100% correct and getting stronger every day." Silver Asiatic

" the team was able to create a family tree of sorts based on ethanol metabolizing ability" And what would a tree look like if they tried to create a tree based on something else? Because I'm thinking about things like this: http://darwins-god.blogspot.com/2013/06/contradictory-trees-evolution-goes-0.html And this: http://crev.info/2013/05/darwins-tree-of-life-is-a-tangled-bramble-bush/ And this: http://www.discovery.org/multimedia/audio/2014/09/darwins-tree-of-life-splinters/ Well, you get the idea. geoffrobinson

News We are naturally selected to be drunks, and … How absurd, everyone knows that we were intelligently designed to be drunks velikovskys

If true, the theory would also offer a major clue as to why our ancestors became terrestrial.
Golly gosh, that's exciting-er than a Hardy Boys mystery adventure, only without the plausibility. jstanley01

Yet another brilliant scientific discovery thanks to evolution.
They note that other evidence has shown that around this same time, the planet cooled slightly, making life a little more difficult for our tree dwelling ancestors.
... or it got warmer and life was easier - either way, the science still works with absolute precision.
They suggest they began climbing down out of the trees to eat the fruit that fell, which gave them a food advantage and a reason for developing the ability to metabolize ethanol—otherwise they would have become too drunk from eating the fermenting fruit to defend themselves or live otherwise normal lives.
What a great sentence. Alcohol gave them a 'food advantage' -- and we never thought about the nutritional value of peach brandy! And fortunately, they got all the right mutations to metabolize ethanol before they got too drunk and couldn't defend themselves from competitors who were already on the ground and didn't want fruit, fermented or otherwise.
If true, the theory would also offer a major clue as to why our ancestors became terrestrial.
I love getting a "major clue" so early in the morning. Thank you evolution - you are so smart! Silver Asiatic

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