Direct Proteomic Investigation Of Variable Dairying Practices

这个合作和多学科项目的目标是回答有关乳品业起源和传播的基本问题。今天，全球牛奶年产量接近7亿吨，相当于地球上每个人每天消费1品脱牛奶。乳制品是世界农业经济的重要组成部分，各大洲都在消费乳制品。考虑到世界上大多数人都有乳糖不耐受的事实，这是值得注意的。人类是唯一一种在婴儿时期食用牛奶的哺乳动物，成年人对牛奶的利用需要进行重大的技术、文化和遗传适应，以克服乳糖不能消化的问题。这些在史前发展起来的适应，标志着人类饮食生态发生了重大而持久的转变。最近，乳制品成为众说纷纭的话题，一些人认为食用乳制品是非天然的，可能有害，而另一些人则强调其营养成分和益生菌潜力对健康的好处。对早期奶业的考古调查可以澄清过去10,000年来奶业在人类饮食中的作用和背景，从而为这场公共辩论做出重大贡献。然而，关于乳制品的起源和传播的许多关键问题仍然知之甚少。俄克拉荷马大学的Christina Warner博士和Cecil M.Lewis博士将与英国、德国和南非的同事一起，应用先进的蛋白质组学技术，使用串联质谱仪来鉴定牙结石(Tartar)中的动物奶蛋白，以便记录战略地理位置关键时期的乳制品消费。这项研究将集中在近东、安纳托利亚和欧洲的新石器时代和青铜时代的人口，并将回答有关史前人口中乳业经济的出现、规模、性质和传播的具体问题。具体地说，该项目将直接测试和完善关于新石器时代奶业起源和传播的假设，解决在乳糖耐受性基因适应兴起之前关于奶业规模的持续争论，并确定绵羊、山羊和牛在早期奶业经济中的相对重要性。这项研究汇集了一支由考古学家、生物学家、蛋白质组专家和卫生专业人员组成的团队，将在多个学术机构和博物馆之间建立国际合作，创建和加强研究生的国际研究和培训网络，并通过关于乳制品在人类史前历史中的作用的公开演讲、讲座和展览为公共科学教育做出贡献。研究结果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，该项目产生的数据将公开提供，供未来在开放获取的在线数据储存库中使用。

The goal of this collaborative and multidisciplinary project is to answer fundamental questions about the origins and spread of dairying. Today, global annual milk production is nearly 700 million metric tons, or enough for every human on earth to consume one pint of milk every day. Dairy is a critical part of the world's agricultural economy, and it is consumed on every continent. This is remarkable given the fact that the majority of the world's population is lactose intolerant. Humans are the only mammals that consume milk past infancy, and the utilization of milk by adults has required significant technological, cultural, and genetic adaptations to overcome lactose indigestibility. These adaptations, developed in prehistory, mark a major and lasting shift in human dietary ecology. Recently, dairy has become the subject of popular controversy, with some arguing that its consumption is unnatural and potentially harmful, while others emphasize the health benefits of its nutrient profile and probiotic potential. Archaeological investigations of early dairying can make a significant contribution to this public debate by clarifying the role and context of dairying in human diets over the past 10,000 years. However, many critical questions regarding the origins and spread of dairy remain poorly understood. Dr. Christina Warinner and Dr. Cecil M. Lewis, Jr., of the University of Oklahoma, together with colleagues in the UK, Germany, and South Africa, will apply advanced proteomics techniques using tandem mass-spectrometry to identify animal milk protein in dental calculus (tartar) in order to document dairy consumption during key time periods in strategic geographic locations. The research will focus on Neolithic and Bronze Age populations in the Near East, Anatolia, and Europe, and will answer specific questions regarding the emergence, scale, nature, and spread of dairying economies in prehistoric populations. Specifically, the project will directly test and refine hypotheses regarding the origins and spread of Neolithic dairying, resolve ongoing debates about the scale of dairying before the rise of genetic adaptations for lactose tolerance, and determine the relative importance of sheep, goats, and cattle in early dairying economies. Bringing together a team of archaeologists, biologists, proteomics experts, and health professionals, this research will build international collaborations between multiple academic institutions and museums, create and enhance an international research and training network for graduate students, and contribute to public science education through public talks, lectures, and exhibits on the role of dairy in human prehistory. The results of the research will be published in peer-reviewed journals, and the data generated by the project will be made publically available for future use in open-access online data repositories.