Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Religion
Related: About this forumEvolutionary increase in size of the human brain explained
"This research indicates that what drove the evolutionary expansion of the human brain may well be a specific unit within a protein called a protein domain -- that is far more numerous in humans than other species."
The protein domain at issue is DUF1220. Humans have more than 270 copies of DUF1220 encoded in the genome, far more than other species. The closer a species is to humans, the more copies of DUF1220 show up. Chimpanzees have the next highest number, 125. Gorillas have 99, marmosets 30 and mice just one. "The one over-riding theme that we saw repeatedly was that the more copies of DUF1220 in the genome, the bigger the brain. And this held true whether we looked at different species or within the human population."
Sikela, a professor at the CU medical school, and his team also linked DUF1220 to brain disorders. They associated lower numbers of DUF1220 with microcephaly, when the brain is too small; larger numbers of the protein domain were associated with macrocephaly, when the brain is too large.
The findings were reported today in the online edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The researchers drew their conclusions by comparing genome sequences from humans and other animals as well as by looking at the DNA of individuals with microcephaly and macrocephaly and of people from a non-disease population.
"The take home message was that brain size may be to a large degree a matter of protein domain dosage," Sikela says. "This discovery opens many new doors. It provides new tools to diagnose diseases related to brain size. And more broadly, it points to a new way to study the human brain and its dramatic increase in size and ability over what, in evolutionary terms, is a short amount of time."
The protein domain at issue is DUF1220. Humans have more than 270 copies of DUF1220 encoded in the genome, far more than other species. The closer a species is to humans, the more copies of DUF1220 show up. Chimpanzees have the next highest number, 125. Gorillas have 99, marmosets 30 and mice just one. "The one over-riding theme that we saw repeatedly was that the more copies of DUF1220 in the genome, the bigger the brain. And this held true whether we looked at different species or within the human population."
Sikela, a professor at the CU medical school, and his team also linked DUF1220 to brain disorders. They associated lower numbers of DUF1220 with microcephaly, when the brain is too small; larger numbers of the protein domain were associated with macrocephaly, when the brain is too large.
The findings were reported today in the online edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The researchers drew their conclusions by comparing genome sequences from humans and other animals as well as by looking at the DNA of individuals with microcephaly and macrocephaly and of people from a non-disease population.
"The take home message was that brain size may be to a large degree a matter of protein domain dosage," Sikela says. "This discovery opens many new doors. It provides new tools to diagnose diseases related to brain size. And more broadly, it points to a new way to study the human brain and its dramatic increase in size and ability over what, in evolutionary terms, is a short amount of time."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/uocd-eii081612.php
So the difference between humans and animals is the number of copies of the DUF1220 gene.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 1106 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (1)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Evolutionary increase in size of the human brain explained (Original Post)
FarCenter
Aug 2012
OP
dimbear
(6,271 posts)1. I'm fascinated by studies that show London cab drivers get increased brain growth.
Trying to untangle the web of streets that is London (for years) grows the brain. Possibly trying to untangle the Torah or the Avestas or the Analects does the same.
Or, more usefully, say............science.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)2. Did you mean to post this in Religion?
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)3. Some religions assert that humans are qualitatively different from animals
While this is more evidence that humans are on a quantitative continuum with animals.
I thought it would also be of interest from the evolution versus creation perspective.