Editing Human cannibalism (section)

== Medical aspects ==
A well-known case of mortuary cannibalism is that of the [[Fore people|Fore]] tribe in [[New Guinea]], which resulted in the spread of the [[prion]] disease [[Kuru (disease)|kuru]].<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Lindenbaum S |title=Understanding kuru: the contribution of anthropology and medicine |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |volume=363 |issue=1510 |pages=3715–3720 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18849287 |pmc=2735506 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0072}}</ref> Although the Fore's mortuary cannibalism was well-documented, the practice had ceased before the cause of the disease was recognized. However, some scholars argue that although post-mortem [[dismemberment]] was the practice during funeral rites, cannibalism was not.{{sfn|Arens|1979|pp=82–116}} [[Marvin Harris]] theorizes that it happened during a famine period coincident with the arrival of Europeans and was rationalized as a religious rite.

In 2003, a publication in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' received a large amount of press attention when it suggested that early humans may have practised extensive cannibalism.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mead S, Stumpf MP, Whitfield J |title=Balancing selection at the prion protein gene consistent with prehistoric kurulike epidemics |journal=Science |volume=300 |issue=5619 |pages=640–643 |date=April 2003 |pmid=12690204 |doi=10.1126/science.1083320 |bibcode=2003Sci...300..640M |s2cid=19269845 |url=http://www.gs.washington.edu/news/article.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gs.washington.edu/news/article.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|display-authors=etal  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/us/gene-study-finds-cannibal-pattern.html |title=Gene Study Finds Cannibal Pattern |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Nicholas Wade |date=April 11, 2003}}</ref> According to this research, genetic markers commonly found in modern humans worldwide suggest that today many people carry a gene that evolved as protection against the [[transmissible spongiform encephalopathy|brain diseases]] that can be spread by consuming human brain tissue.<ref name="Cannibalism Normal"/> A 2006 reanalysis of the data questioned this hypothesis,<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Soldevila M, Andrés AM, Ramírez-Soriano A |title=The prion protein gene in humans revisited: Lessons from a worldwide resequencing study |journal=Genome Res. |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=231–239 |date=February 2006 |pmid=16369046 |pmc=1361719 |doi=10.1101/gr.4345506|display-authors=etal  }}</ref> because it claimed to have found a data collection bias, which led to an erroneous conclusion.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/22927/|magazine=New Scientist|title=No cannibalism signature in human gene|access-date=October 3, 2007|archive-date=October 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027112559/http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/22927/|url-status=dead}}</ref> This claimed bias came from incidents of cannibalism used in the analysis not being due to local cultures, but having been carried out by explorers, stranded seafarers or escaped convicts.<ref>See [http://www.warriors.egympie.com.au/cannibalism.html ''Cannibalism – Some Hidden Truths''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417140731/http://www.warriors.egympie.com.au/cannibalism.html |date=April 17, 2010 }} for an example documenting escaped convicts in Australia who initially blamed natives, but later confessed to conducting the practice themselves out of desperate hunger.</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2022}} The original authors published a subsequent paper in 2008 defending their conclusions.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mead S, Whitfield J, Poulter M |title=Genetic susceptibility, evolution and the kuru epidemic |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |volume=363 |issue=1510 |pages=3741–3746 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18849290 |pmc=2576515 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0087|display-authors=etal  }}</ref>