A vitamin that is particularly important for pregnant women. An enzyme that helps the body to detoxify harmful substances. And a small biological switch that Neanderthals apparently did not yet possess. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig have now discovered how far the traces of our extinct relatives reach and what they could still do in the body today.
Specifically, it is about an enzyme called NAT1. Enzymes are substances in the body that control and enable important processes. NAT1 has two tasks. It helps to break down folate, also known as vitamin B9. The vitamin is important for cell division and the development of unborn children. At the same time, NAT1 helps the body to detoxify harmful substances from the environment, for example carcinogenic substances from cigarette smoke.
Folate is particularly important during pregnancy: too little of it increases the risk of malformations in the unborn child. The body has to do both: provide sufficient folate and break down harmful substances at the same time.
