Research Fails to Identify Causal Mechanism
A recent study of the Great Chinese Famine resulted in faulty conclusions and incomplete research on famine effects passed on to offspring, especially because the paper did not identify a causal mechanism. Researchers claimed that metabolism causes altered metabolism, but it only discussed a relationship between famine and metabolism. Image credit: Pixabay / TusitaStudio Before we continue with the research, a bit of history. The Great Chinese Famine of about 1958-1961 had several causes. Most egregious was Chairman Mousie Dung's incompetence. He was told that sparrows eat grain seeds, so he ordered sparrows killed — by the millions. Without the chirpie birdies around, locusts and other insects they ate went on a crop-eating rampage. People were starving, and Mao didn't release food in warehouses. The drought of 1960 made things even worse. Now, back to our research paper. Like the famine was not the result of a single cause, neither is the result presented. In additio