Guess what this is?

Vitamin- C an essential nutrient It also is a cofactor in enzymatic reaction

and several other collagen synthesis. protects our body from antioxidants and

oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress

long term effects : sickle cell , parkinson’s , heart failure, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia

Short term effects : prevents aging

Lack of Vitamin – C

Do we make Vitamin- C ?

“Enzymological studies in the late 1950s revealed that the genetic defect was caused by the deficiency of L-gulono-y-lactone oxidase GLO, the enzyme that catalyzes the terminal step of L-ascorbic acid biosynthesisin most animals.” However, recent study show that the human genome contains a nucleotide sequencet hat cross-hybridizes toa cDNA for rat GLO. But a frame-shift mutation has made these genes non-functional

WHY DON'T HUMANS AND OTHER PRIMATES SYNTHESIZE VITAMIN C70 - 80 million years agoEarly primates lived in tropical regions and

ate lots of fruits (e.g. they were largely frugiverous), and therefore the mutation was not lethal to these animals and was passed on to all descendents.

So just like they say “ what you don’t use you loose” we too have lost the ability to synthesize Vitamin-C

Problem Now we moved out of tropical environments, developed agriculture, started traveling on ships, planes and eating can goods. The repressed ability to synthesize Vitamin-C is in high demand. However, now the question is will it reselect this trait.