scholarly journals Identification of genes involved in the evolution of human intelligence through combination of inter-species and intra-species genetic variations

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8912
Author(s):  
Mengjie Li ◽  
Wenting Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyi Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Genetic Variations ◽  
Hominid Evolution ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Genetic Changes

Understanding the evolution of human intelligence is an important undertaking in the science of human genetics. A great deal of biological research has been conducted to search for genes which are related to the significant increase in human brain volume and cerebral cortex complexity during hominid evolution. However, genetic changes affecting intelligence in hominid evolution have remained elusive. We supposed that a subset of intelligence-related genes, which harbored intra-species variations in human populations, may also be evolution-related genes which harbored inter-species variations between humans (Homo sapiens) and great apes (including Pan troglodytes and Pongo abelii). Here we combined inter-species and intra-species genetic variations to discover genes involved in the evolution of human intelligence. Information was collected from published GWAS works on intelligence and a total of 549 genes located within the intelligence-associated loci were identified. The intelligence-related genes containing human-specific variations were detected based on the latest high-quality genome assemblies of three human’s closest species. Finally, we identified 40 strong candidates involved in human intelligence evolution. Expression analysis using RNA-Seq data revealed that most of the genes displayed a relatively high expression in the cerebral cortex. For these genes, there is a distinct expression pattern between humans and other species, especially in neocortex tissues. Our work provided a list of strong candidates for the evolution of human intelligence, and also implied that some intelligence-related genes may undergo inter-species evolution and contain intra-species variation.

Sequence variation and evolution of nuclear DNA in man and the primates

1981 ◽  
Vol 292 (1057) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Sequence Variation ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Sequence Divergence ◽  
Gene Arrangement ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Detailed Structural Analysis ◽  
Dna Sequence Variation ◽  
History Of

Recent advances in nucleic acid technology have facilitated the detection and detailed structural analysis of a wide variety of genes in higher organisms, including those in man. This in turn has opened the way to an examination of the evolution of structural genes and their surrounding and intervening sequences. In a study of the evolution of haemoglobin genes and neighbouring sequences in man and the primates, we have investigated gene arrangement and DNA sequence divergence both within and between species ranging from Old World monkeys to man. This analysis is beginning to reveal the evolutionary constraints that have acted on this region of the genome during primate evolution. Furthermore, DNA sequence variation, both within and between species, provides, in principle, a novel and powerful method for determining inter-specific phylogenetic distances and also for analysing the structure of present-day human populations. Application of this new branch of molecular biology to other areas of the human genome should prove important in unravelling the history of genetic changes that have occurred during the evolution of man.

Sexual Selection, Timing and an X–Y Homologous Gene: Did Homo Sapiens Speciate on the Y Chromosome?

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim J. Crow
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Hominid Evolution ◽  
Homologous Gene ◽  
Chromosomal Change ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies

This chapter provides a theory of the speciation of modern Homo sapiens, that a single gene played a critical role in the transition from a precursor species. The theory is founded upon the following: firstly, the premise that hemispheric asymmetry is the defining feature of the human brain and the only plausible correlate of language; secondly, an argument for a specific candidate region (the Xq21.3/Yp11.2 region of homology) based upon the reciprocal deficits associated with the sex chromosome aneuploidies, and the course of chromosomal change in hominid evolution; and thirdly, a particular evolutionary mechanism (sexual selection acting on an X-Y-linked gene) to account for species-specific modification of what initially was a saltational change. These postulates relate to the case of modern Homo sapiens. On the basis of the recent literature, the discussion argues that the third premise has general significance as a mechanism of speciation.

Human Genetics

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Regalado
Keyword(s):  
Heart Attack ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
New Gene ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Genetic research is moving faster than a nematode poked by a platinum needle. Every week, the scientific journals report a score of new gene discoveries made in mice, worms, and men. How can a science journalist cover it all? It's hopeless, of course. So one thing I always keep in mind is it's often the methods or scientific tools behind these molecular discoveries, not the discoveries themselves, that present the best story possibilities. Examples of topics for such “tool stories” include DNA chips, proteomics, and new imaging technologies like the green-fluorescent protein used to make zebrafish and other laboratory critters glow. In writing about the technologies that drive biological research, I've found a formula that has worked well for me, time and again. Of course, not every story fits the same mold, and the best ones break it. But it's important to be familiar with how a tool story typically comes to be, and how to write one. I like to think about biology as a big onion that's rapidly being peeled. There are tens of thousands of biologists peeling away every day, figuring out all of life's working parts. But I never saw much sense in inspecting every peel for its news potential. (And some editors I know refer dismissively to the latest uncovering of a gene for heart attack or schizophrenia as “gene-of-the-week” stories.) It's better, sometimes, to focus on the new techniques and ideas for peeling the onion. Tool stories are big-picture stories that can be newsy, but the trends tend to have a long shelf life. They endure through numerous news cycles, and ultimately nearly every outlet in the journalistic food chain will cover the big ones. Your decision is when to catch the wave. Some reporters put a big emphasis on being first, but others will be content to watch the story unfold and cover their piece of it when it's right for whatever market they happen to be writing for. Either way, a tale of how a new technology is changing biological research is a great way to teach your readers—and yourself—about how science really works.

scholarly journals Periodic catastrophes over human evolutionary history are necessary to explain the forager population paradox

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (26) ◽  
pp. 12758-12766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gurven ◽  
Raziel J. Davison
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Vital Rate ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Wild Chimpanzee ◽  
Population Fluctuations ◽  
Vital Rates ◽  
Zero Population Growth ◽  
Major Adjustment

The rapid growth of contemporary human foragers and steady decline of chimpanzees represent puzzling population paradoxes, as any species must exhibit near-stationary growth over much of their evolutionary history. We evaluate the conditions favoring zero population growth (ZPG) among 10 small-scale subsistence human populations and five wild chimpanzee groups according to four demographic scenarios: altered mean vital rates (i.e., fertility and mortality), vital rate stochasticity, vital rate covariance, and periodic catastrophes. Among most human populations, changing mean fertility or survivorship alone requires unprecedented alterations. Stochastic variance and covariance would similarly require major adjustment to achieve ZPG in most populations. Crashes could maintain ZPG in slow-growing populations but must be frequent and severe in fast-growing populations—more extreme than observed in the ethnographic record. A combination of vital rate alteration with catastrophes is the most realistic solution to the forager population paradox. ZPG in declining chimpanzees is more readily obtainable through reducing mortality and altering covariance. While some human populations may have hovered near ZPG under harsher conditions (e.g., violence or food shortage), modernHomo sapienswere equipped with the potential to rapidly colonize new habitats and likely experienced population fluctuations and local extinctions over evolutionary history.

scholarly journals svtools: population-scale analysis of structural variation

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (22) ◽  
pp. 4782-4787 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E Larson ◽  
Haley J Abel ◽  
Colby Chiang ◽  
Abhijit Badve ◽  
Indraniel Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Variation ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Mobile Element ◽  
Supplementary Information ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Scale Analysis ◽  
Human Genomes ◽  
Variant Detection

Abstract Summary Large-scale human genetics studies are now employing whole genome sequencing with the goal of conducting comprehensive trait mapping analyses of all forms of genome variation. However, methods for structural variation (SV) analysis have lagged far behind those for smaller scale variants, and there is an urgent need to develop more efficient tools that scale to the size of human populations. Here, we present a fast and highly scalable software toolkit (svtools) and cloud-based pipeline for assembling high quality SV maps—including deletions, duplications, mobile element insertions, inversions and other rearrangements—in many thousands of human genomes. We show that this pipeline achieves similar variant detection performance to established per-sample methods (e.g. LUMPY), while providing fast and affordable joint analysis at the scale of ≥100 000 genomes. These tools will help enable the next generation of human genetics studies. Availability and implementation svtools is implemented in Python and freely available (MIT) from https://github.com/hall-lab/svtools. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Hunter-gatherers on the best-seller list: Steven Pinker and the “Bellicose School's” treatment of forager violence

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lethal Violence ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Philosophical Debates

Purpose – The question of violence in hunter-gatherer society has animated philosophical debates since at least the seventeenth century. Steven Pinker has sought to affirm that civilization, is superior to the state of humanity during its long history of hunting and gathering. The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a series of recent studies that assert a baseline of primordial violence by hunters and gatherers. In challenging this position the author draws on four decades of ethnographic and historical research on hunting and gathering peoples. Design/methodology/approach – At the empirical heart of this question is the evidence pro- and con- for high rates of violent death in pre-farming human populations. The author evaluates the ethnographic and historical evidence for warfare in recorded hunting and gathering societies, and the archaeological evidence for warfare in pre-history prior to the advent of agriculture. Findings – The view of Steven Pinker and others of high rates of lethal violence in hunters and gatherers is not sustained. In contrast to early farmers, their foraging precursors lived more lightly on the land and had other ways of resolving conflict. With little or no fixed property they could easily disperse to diffuse conflict. The evidence points to markedly lower levels of violence for foragers compared to post-Neolithic societies. Research limitations/implications – This conclusion raises serious caveats about the grand evolutionary theory asserted by Steven Pinker, Richard Wrangham and others. Instead of being “killer apes” in the Pleistocene and Holocene, the evidence indicates that early humans lived as relatively peaceful hunter-gathers for some 7,000 generations, from the emergence of Homo sapiens up until the invention of agriculture. Therefore there is a major gap between the purported violence of the chimp-like ancestors and the documented violence of post-Neolithic humanity. Originality/value – This is a critical analysis of published claims by authors who contend that ancient and recent hunter-gatherers typically committed high levels of violent acts. It reveals a number of serious flaws in their arguments and use of data.

Used leucodepletion filters as a source of large quantities of DNA suitable for the study of genetic variations in human populations

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Cook ◽  
S. E. Jobson ◽  
D. C. Atkinson ◽  
D. P. Lowe ◽  
S. L. Farmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variations ◽  
Human Populations

An ocean view of African climate change during the last 620,000 years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr ◽  
Asfawossen Asrat ◽  
Andrew S. Cohen ◽  
Walter Düsing ◽  
Verena Foerster-Indenhuck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Close Coupling ◽  
Climate Fluctuations ◽  
Proxy Records ◽  
African Climate ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Fossil Records

<p>It has been a long-standing and passionately discussed hypothesis that important developments in human origins over the last 6-8 Ma coincided with environmental change, including cooling, drying, and wider climate fluctuations. However, testing these hypotheses is difficult as both high resolution climate records and fossil records of early human populations are often incomplete and poorly dated. Thus, to better understand the role that past African climate changes might have played in the evolution and dispersal of our ancestors, in particular Homo sapiens, we have developed a ~620,000 year record of humidity variability from the Chew Bahir basin situated in southern Ethiopia. This 293 m composite lacustrine sediment succession was compiled from two parallel cores HSPDP-CHB14-2A and 2B collected as part of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) in 2014. We utilized the log(K/Zr) ratio determined by micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) scanning to analyse past moisture changes in the Chew Bahir basin. By placing our results into the existing framework of marine and terrestrial proxy records from various parts of Africa and its surrounding oceans we document a close coupling between the spatio-temporal distribution of African rainfall and sea-surface temperature changes in the Indo-Pacific realm on orbital time scales. We argue that this coupling is facilitated by shifts in the Walker and Hadley circulations in response to insolation variability at the same time.</p>

scholarly journals The unidirectional phylogeny of Homo sapiens anchors the origin of modern humans in Eurasia

Hereditas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Úlfur Árnason
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Maternal Inheritance ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Origin Of Modern Humans ◽  
The Common ◽  
Out Of Africa ◽  
Mtdna Introgression

Abstract Background The Out of Africa hypothesis, OOAH, was challenged recently in an extended mtDNA analysis, PPA (Progressive Phylogenetic Analysis), that identified the African human populations as paraphyletic, a finding that contradicted the common OOAH understanding that Hss had originated in Africa and invaded Eurasia from there. The results were consistent with the molecular Out of Eurasia hypothesis, OOEH, and Eurasian palaeontology, a subject that has been largely disregarded in the discussion of OOAH. Results In the present study the mtDNA tree, a phylogeny based on maternal inheritance, was compared to the nuclear DNA tree of the paternally transmitted Y-chromosome haplotypes, Y-DNAs. The comparison showed full phylogenetic coherence between these two separate sets of data. The results were consistent with potentially four translocations of modern humans from Eurasia into Africa, the earliest taking place ≈ 250,000 years before present, YBP. The results were in accordance with the postulates behind OOEH at the same time as they lent no support to the OOAH. Conclusions The conformity between the mtDNA and Y-DNA phylogenies of Hss is consistent with the understanding that Eurasia was the donor and not the receiver in human evolution. The evolutionary problems related to OOAH became similarly exposed by the mtDNA introgression that took place from Hss into Neanderthals ≈ 500,000 YBP, a circumstance that demonstrated the early coexistence of the two lineages in Eurasia.

scholarly journals Evolutionary Patterns in the Genus Homo

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisar A. Shar
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Genus Homo ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACT The demographic history of Homo sapiens is complex; it involves a wide range of migrations and genetic adaptations. One of the closely related species to Homo sapiens is Neanderthals, which became extinct about 30,000 years ago. The aim of this research is to compare Homo sapiens with Neanderthals and chimpanzees to understand the patterns of inheritance and survival instincts of Homo sapiens. Results show that out of all selected groups of genes in this study, metabolism, and language genes are found to be the most evolving group of genes. This shows that these most evolving genes are contributing to the advancement of Homo sapiens. However, after comparing human intelligence genes with the primates, it is found that exonic regions are contributing more to the evolution of human intelligence hence, making Homo sapiens unique in terms of intelligence.

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