Similar Functions of Uric Acid and Ascorbate in Man ?
@article{Proctor1970SimilarFO, title={Similar Functions of Uric Acid and Ascorbate in Man ?}, author={Peter H. Proctor}, journal={Nature}, year={1970}, volume={228}, pages={868-868} }
POINTING out the structural similarity between uric acid and the stimulant purines caffeine and theophylline, Orowan1 first proposed that the emergence of intelligence in the primate line might arise from a single evolutionary event, the loss of the enzyme uricase, with the result that uric acid became the end product of purine metabolism. The only non-primate mammalian strain whose final purine metabolite is uric acid is the Dalmatian dog.
103 Citations
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OROWAN1 suggests that the high uric acid concentration in the blood of human beings and anthropoids, as compared with other mammals, may be a cause of their intellectual development. He holds that…
The Origin of Man
- BiologyNature
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The Darwin–Mendel–De Vries theory of evolution provides a general frame for understanding the emergence of man, but it leaves open crucial questions of detail about why man and the higher apes so strikingly exceeded other animals in intellectual development.