Carcinogens and Consumers
Posted by Amaranth Rose on Jul 26, 2002 at 20:18
(65.172.150.61)Re: Once again the media gets it wrong (Southern Man)
It appears to me that humans have been consuming cooked food far longer than a few thousand years. Ever since primitive humanoids gained mastery over fire there has probably been cooked food, probably not at controlled temperatures. The production of ceramic pots for cooking requires heat that could only reliably be achieved from controlled fire. Humans are the only animals that use fire regularly in the preparation of their food.
Over the millions of years that humans have used fire, it wouldn't be surprising if those susceptible to these carcinogens have simply died out, their genes driven from the gene pool by the forces of reproductive success and failure. Other animals, having no such selective force operating in their environment, have retained a population of genes susceptible to those carcinogens.
Is it so difficult to imagine?