A Gene Variant in Modern Humans Could Be Key to Speech Generation
2025/02/24 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
Some researchers at Rockefeller University (USA) have concluded that a variant of the NOVA1 gene could be associated with speech generation. They have observed that when the human variant is inserted in mice, its vocalizations change. And it has been confirmed that this variant of the gene is present only in modern humans. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
The NOVA1 protein binds to RNA in neurons and is essential for brain development and neuromuscular control. All birds and mammals, except humans, have the same form of this protein. In humans, one amino acid is altered.
The researchers incorporated this particular variant of the human NOVA1 gene into mice using CRISPR technology. And they found, on the one hand, that the human variant had no effect on neuronal development or motor control, but, on the other hand, that many of the genes associated with vocalization had become targets of the human NOVA1 protein.
In view of this, they investigated how it affected vocalizations between mice and found that the sounds that both puppies and adults make to call each other were significantly different in mice with the human variant.
On the other hand, the analysis of three Neanderthal genomes and some Denisovans has shown that in them the NOVA1 gene is exactly the same as in the rest of the animals. Finally, the genomes of 650,058 modern humans from around the world have also been studied, and with the exception of six, all others have the same variant. These six have the variant of the rest of the animals, but since they used an anonymous database, they do not have details about them.
Thus, the researchers conclude that this variant originated in an ancient population of modern humans, in Africa, and prevailed, perhaps because it provided advantages for oral communication. This population would then leave Africa and spread throughout the world.
