Limeys!

 https://barryhisblog.blogspot.com/p/limeys.html

JAMES LIND AND THE SAILOR'S CURSE !!!

In the 18th century, sailors who travelled on long journeys (voyages) suffered from a mysterious, deadly illness.Their gums got rotten, their teeth fell out, and their bodies weakened until they gradually died. This was seen as a curse of the sea without any reasonable explanation.

But what was more surprising was that, some sailors mysteriously stayed healthy while others died. This was not resolved until a Scottish doctor named James Lind decided to investigate the case.

He noticed that, during the long journey, those sailors who had access to fresh fruits like oranges and lemons stay alive while those who didn't take those fruits died. So he decided to give orange (citric fruits) to the sick sailors and they recovered completely. Then he knew that, the secret was simply "lack of vitamin C". Our bodies can’t produce it, and without it, tissues break down, leading to "scurvy" which took the sailor's life.

This simple solution saved countless lives. So do you know that most of the diseases we die from here in Africa have simple solutions which practically may cost us nothing aside the free gifts of nature in the fruits you see and the atmosphere you live. Knowledge is power, so live healthy.

SMATA SCIENCE DEVOTIONAL

Charles Adimas

19-03-2025

(To get more of our science devotionals, like our Facebook page SMATA for Africa) The fact that this particular vitamin C deficiency, which normally makes vitamin C, is due to a specific mutation in the GLO gene in primates, is a clear indication of common ancestry. Why else would a particular, distinct mutation be shared within a group, unless everyone inherited it from a common ancestor? Other "kinds" such as guinea pigs, cannot make vitamin C either, but the condition is due to a distinct, different mutation to the GLO gene - powerful evidence for common ancestry among the primates and a different evolutionary path that belongs to guinea pigs. The survival of these mutated genes is explained by the fact that among all we such creatures, who feed on food that is a source of vitamin C, the selection pressure, the need for an ability to make our own vitamin C, is no longer present, so the mutation survives. Many more examples of such "pseudogenes", genes that clearly had a function, many of which still have a function in other creatures but which have been lost in others, exist in nature. They are all uniquely consistent with the evolutionary account. No other explanations are available.