Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41640189›Full record

ReviewBioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology2026

Burn Selection: How Fire Injury Shaped Human Evolution.

Joshua Cuddihy, Yuemin Li, Isobel Fisher, Zoltan Takats, Dominic Friston, Declan Collins, Marcela Vizcaychipi, Matteo Fumagalli, Istvan Nagy, Armand Leroi

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Burn Selection: How Fire Injury Shaped Human Evolution.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Joshua CuddihyNociception group, Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, UK.
Yuemin LiSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK.
Isobel FisherDepartment of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Zoltan TakatsDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Dominic FristonNociception group, Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, UK.
Declan CollinsChelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Marcela VizcaychipiNociception group, Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, UK.
Matteo FumagalliSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK.
Istvan NagyNociception group, Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, UK.
Armand LeroiDepartment of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mastery of fire transformed human evolution through advantages spanning diet, behavior, physiology, and ecology. While these benefits are well established, here we highlight a previously overlooked cost - and selective pressure - unique to humans: high-temperature burn injury. Unlike other species, humans and their hominin ancestors have faced increased lifetime risk of burns, which we argue has driven genetic adaptation. Drawing on comparative genomic evidence across primates, we suggest that genes associated with burn injury response - relating to wound healing and inflammation - show signs of accelerated evolution in humans. We propose that recurrent exposure to burns acted as a selective force in our lineage, helping to explain both beneficial adaptations and paradoxical maladaptive responses to severe injury. By framing burns as an evolutionary pressure, the Burn Selection Hypothesis invites a re-evaluation of how fire shaped human biology and offers new perspectives for understanding both the evolutionary past and modern burn care.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionBurnsFiresAdaptation, PhysiologicalAnimalsHumansInflammationSelection, GeneticWound Healingfire usehuman evolutioninflammationnatural selectionthermal traumawound healing

Identifiers

PMID41640189
PMCPMC12873521

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.