Study finds prion diseases explain human avoidance of cannibalism
Technology
A new study just explained why humans have mostly avoided cannibalism, despite the fact that eating other humans could technically provide nutrition.
Researchers Michal Misiak and Petr Turecek found that the real reason we steer clear is because cannibalism spreads dangerous diseases (especially prion diseases like kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob) that can't be killed by cooking and can lead to major outbreaks.
PNAS study: cannibalism risks outweigh benefits
The study, published in PNAS, suggests these health risks are so serious they outweigh any survival benefits.
Basically, the threat of wiping out entire communities kept cannibalism from ever catching on as a common practice.