Publication Date:
2005-09-10
Description:
The gene ASPM (abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated) is a specific regulator of brain size, and its evolution in the lineage leading to Homo sapiens was driven by strong positive selection. Here, we show that one genetic variant of ASPM in humans arose merely about 5800 years ago and has since swept to high frequency under strong positive selection. These findings, especially the remarkably young age of the positively selected variant, suggest that the human brain is still undergoing rapid adaptive evolution.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mekel-Bobrov, Nitzan -- Gilbert, Sandra L -- Evans, Patrick D -- Vallender, Eric J -- Anderson, Jeffrey R -- Hudson, Richard R -- Tishkoff, Sarah A -- Lahn, Bruce T -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2005 Sep 9;309(5741):1720-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16151010" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Adaptation, Biological
;
African Continental Ancestry Group
;
Animals
;
Asian Continental Ancestry Group/genetics
;
*Biological Evolution
;
Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology
;
European Continental Ancestry Group
;
Gene Conversion
;
Gene Frequency
;
Genotype
;
Haplotypes
;
Humans
;
Linkage Disequilibrium
;
Models, Genetic
;
Nerve Tissue Proteins/*genetics
;
Organ Size
;
Pan troglodytes/genetics
;
Phylogeny
;
Polymorphism, Genetic
;
Recombination, Genetic
;
*Selection, Genetic
;
Sequence Analysis, DNA
;
Time
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
