- A new study links a specific gene and protein variant found only in humans to the origins of spoken language.
- The researchers used CRISPR gene editing to replace the NOVA1 protein found in mice with a type found exclusively in humans, and this changed the way the animals vocalized when they addressed each other.
- Study author Dr Robert Darnell hopes the recent work could lead to new ways to treat speech problems.
Why did people start talking? Scientists suggest genetics played a big role – and say the evolution of this unique ability was key to our survival.
New research binds a specific gene to the ancient origins of spoken language, suggesting that a protein variant found only in humans may have helped us communicate in a new way. Speech allowed us to exchange information, coordinate actions, and transfer knowledge, giving us an advantage over extinct relatives such as Neanderthals and Denisovans.
The new study is “a good first step to start looking at specific genes” that may influence speech and language development, said Lisa Feinstack of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study.
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What scientists are learning may someday even help people with speech problems.
The genetic variant the researchers looked at was one of many genes “that contributed to the emergence of Homo sapiens as the dominant speciesas we are today,” said Dr. Robert Darnell, author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
Casts of the skulls can be seen at the Early Human Species exhibit in the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins on July 20, 2023, at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
Darnell has been studying a protein called NOVA1, which is known to be critical for brain development, since the early 1990s. For the latest study, scientists in their laboratory at The Rockefeller University in New York used CRISPR gene editing to replace the NOVA1 protein found in mice with a purely human-type protein to test the real effects of the genetic variant. To their surprise, this changed the way the animals made sounds when they spoke to each other.
The human version of the mice squeaked differently than their normal littermates when their mother visited them. Adult male mice with this variant chirped differently than their normal counterparts when they saw they were in heat.
In both environments, mice are motivated to speak, Darnell said, “and they spoke differently” to the human variant, illustrating its role in speech.
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This is not the first time the gene has been linked to speech. In 2001, British scientists announced that they had discovered the first gene associated with language and speech disorders.
It was named FOXP2 and called the human language gene. But although FOXP2 is involved in human language, it turns out that this variant in modern humans is not unique to us. Later studies showed that it was common with Neanderthals. The NOVA1 variant in modern humans, on the other hand, is unique to our species, Darnell said.
Having a gene variant is not the only reason people may talk. The ability also depends on things like the anatomy of the human throat and the areas of the brain that work together to allow people to speak and understand language.
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Darnell hopes the recent work will not only help people better understand where they come from, but will ultimately lead to new ways to treat speech-related problems.
Finestack at the University of Minnesota said it is more likely that genetic results will one day allow scientists to identify early in life those who may need speech and language intervention.
“It's certainly possible,” she said.
