NOT A CHIMP

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?

Friday, 21 August 2015

Why we're smarter than chickens: Team uncovers protein part the controls neuron development

http://phys.org/news/2015-08-smarter-chickens-team-uncovers-protein.html

Why does brain growth in some vertebrates (i.e. us) outstrip others? According to Ben Blencowe and his colleagues in Toronto one of the main engines for the gene evolution required is alternative splicing. It is one of the main mechanisms that amplify genetic distance between us and the rest of the higher primates, for instance, and i deal with it in the chapter ALADDIN'S CCAVE in "Not A Chimp".