Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
A Human Language Gene
968 - A Human Language Gene
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
What makes us unique in the animal kingdom is our highly evolved ability to communicate.
Before humans developed complex languages, they learned to gesture. This stimulated the enhancement of areas in our brains related to language processing and development.
Our social structures grew more complex, forcing improvements in how we communicated. Humans developed new tools that required new words, and more complex languages were also necessary to pass down knowledge.
As cultural rituals and storytelling emerged, language became even richer. The human vocal tract and neural networks evolved to support this more sophisticated communication.
Scientists are investigating whether we possess the so-called “human language” genes that enable complex vocal communication. One current theory suggests that this provided us with an advantage over our prehistoric cousins, the Denisovans and Neanderthals, who became extinct thirty thousand years ago.
A new study on the NOVA-one gene found that our version differs from our extinct cousins and other mammals. The human gene produces a protein with a single amino acid change in its protein sequence.
When researchers engineered mice with this gene, the baby mice made higher frequency squeaks. Since males’ higher squeaks are attractive to females, this may give them a mating advantage later in life.
We knew speech and language was powerful but it may have been the very thing that ensured our survival!
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast service.
