Butyrylcholinesterase, a hepatic enzyme has a primarily pharmacological role in hydrolyzing esters. Variant forms of the enzymes exist. A hypothesis is presented for their continuing presence over evolution, and suggest a possible modulatory effect on components of metabolic syndrome as well as other related conditions. Finally it is proposed that subjects harboring variant forms of the enzyme may represent a ‘human knockout equivalents` and can be part of the human knockout project.
Key words: pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics, human knockout, mouse knockout model, evolution, geography
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