Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Monday, 4 October 2010
Gene flaw causes small brain
In my chapter BRAIN-BUILDERS I detail the discovery of a number of genes that are implicated in causing microcephaly (small heads). Chief among them, are two genes that have an interesting evolutionary story to tell - Microcephalin and ASPM. Now the same team that did the spadework on those genes, Geoff Woods, now at Cambridge University, and Christopher Walsh at Harvard University Med. School, have identified another microcephaly gene - called WDR62. This gene, like the two mentioned above, is involved in the development of neurons. It will be interesting to see whether chimp-human comparison follows and whether any evidence points to recent positive selection for variants of WDR62.
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