Expression of Endorphin Gene Favored in Human Evolution

摘要

Humans and chimpanzees share at least 98% of their DNA sequences. Yet chimps are an endangered species, whereas humans have used their superior cognition to transform the face of the earth. What makes the difference? Thirty years ago, geneticist Mary-Claire King and biochemist Allan Wilson proposed that changes in how genes are regulated, rather than in the proteins they code for, was the key (Science, 11 April 1975, p. 107). A new study of evolutionary changes in the regulation of a gene implicated in perception, behavior, and memory suggests that King and Wilson may have been at least partly right.