Talk:Vitamin C

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Query[change source]

Read somewhere we have a the gene to make Vitamin C but it is Broken. Since everyone has the same broken gene it indicates it happened when the human population was at a narrow point. Seems this article tip-toes around it ? If so, is there a reason ? (unsigned)

The whole group of primates known as the Haplorrhini lack the ability to synthesise vit. C. We are descendants of this group, and we also do not synthesise the vitamin. Is that a problem? It's nothing to do with humans as such, except in so far as we inherit many of our genes from our remote ancestors. As a general rule, animals synthesise vital chemicals which they can't get regularly from their diet. Most primates eat fruit, and that's where they get vit. C. Every metabolic pathway has a cost, because it uses cell machinery which might be used for other functions. That being the case, there would not have been strong selection to keep this particular pathway. (that's just a supposition, of course) Macdonald-ross (talk) 17:36, 28 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]