The mystery of human brain evolution has been solved. Free Technical Library News

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Mystery of human brain evolution solved

03.09.2012

The rapid increase in the size and cognitive capabilities of the human brain (in the process of evolution) turned out to be due to repeated copying of the same gene.

Everyone knows that the size and cognitive abilities of the brain make a person a special representative of the animal world of our planet. However, so far no one has been able to unravel the riddle of the rapid evolutionary "spurt" that has awarded us with such an amazing mental tool. The results of a study conducted by scientists at the University of Colorado indicate that the key to the puzzle is a large number of copies of the gene encoding the protein domain DUF1220 (from the English. Domain of unknown function - a domain with an unknown function).

This gene has over 270 copies in the human genome. At the same time, the number of copies in the genome of animals is the greater, the greater the degree of its similarity with humans. For example, the DUF1220 domain is encrypted 125 times in the chimpanzee genome, 99 times in the gorilla genome, 30 times in the monkey genome, and only one copy is present in the mouse genome.

The results of the study showed that the more copies of the gene encoding the DUF1220 domain are contained in the genome, the larger the brain size of the organism. This pattern applies not only to different species, but also to individual representatives of the human population. Moreover, the analysis of the genomes of patients with microcephaly - a congenital disease characterized by an abnormally small brain size - and its opposite - macrocephaly - showed that even with pathological abnormalities, the brain size directly depends on the number of copies of the gene encoding the DUF1220 domain.

This discovery provides specialists with a new approach to diagnosing abnormalities associated with brain size. From a broader point of view, it opens up new avenues for studying the human brain and the incredible increase in its size and capacity that has occurred within a very short period from an evolutionary perspective.

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