Why can humans speak and chimpanzees cannot even though they share almost all of their DNA? American scientists have found the cause in small changes in a molecule associated with the appearance of language.
It is the protein encoded by thegen FoxP2, the only one involved in normal human language, and whose mutations are associated with disorders in the development of speech and speech. The amino acid structure ofFoxP2has been conserved throughout evolution, but the chimpanzee version does not containtwo specific amino acid changesthat are found in the human variant.
As published today by Dan Geschwind and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles in the magazineNature, these slight variations are sufficient to explain certain differences in thebrain structurethat could be involved in language. They could also be behind somephysical characteristics of the jaw and throatthat allow humans to speak. Also, sinceFoxP2it is a gene that regulates other genes, triggers a cascade of changes sufficient to explain the development of a complete and unique linguistic circuit in our species.
Following these results, the researchers hope to further deepen our capacity for language. Furthermore, they hope that this line of research will shed light on how theautismo laschizophreniathey disrupt our ability to communicate.
