Fastest evolving gene gives us big brains?

Gene Expression
By Razib Khan
Aug 18, 2006 6:12 PMNov 5, 2019 9:17 AM

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Many people have posted on this, so I'm going to give a quick link round up. I linked it early, and then Kawfee Mugg posted a follow up on my other weblog. John-too-good-for-10-assertions then offered up his commentary, and then RPM kicked in his 3 cents. He pointed me to Carl Zimmer's smackdown on the issue. I think the insight this gives us is similar to FOXP2, yes, we are a lot like other animals (whether it is 98% identity to chimp or not is irrelevant), but, in some ways we are a special breed all our own (i.e., in this case, a lot more evolution seems to have occurred on the human lineage out from others primates than across all other mammals). This should also clue us in to the possible future of human population genetics: we are mostly the same, but in significant ways we will probably differ.

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