The Genetics of Humanness: Human-Specific Signaling Networks

The Genetics of Humanness: Human-Specific Signaling Networks, a presentation by Genevieve Konopka of the University of Texas, is a portion of a multi-part symposium sponsored by CARTA, the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny. Konopka examines the uniqueness of humans, even among other primates, at the level of the brain. Language and speech, considered to be the most uniquely human traits, can be examined at the level of the protein by looking at mRNA levels in cells in different areas of the brain. Konopka and colleagues used two different methods to propose examining language pathways. The first method was to examine the expression of one particular gene, known as FOXP2, has been implicated as a language gene. Since FOXP2 regulates the expression of other genes, Konopka investigated which genes are regulated by FOXP2 in humans and in chimpanzees to examine the overlap between the two species. Additionally, the second method Konopka discusses is the use of new technology to examine co-expression of genes in the human brain and changes in the expression of genes in the human brain. The evolutionary examination of gene expression among humans and other primates can arguably be used to examine the uniqueness of the human genetics at the level of the brain.

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