New Study Explains How Human Brain Differed From Neanderthals

Experiments conducted on mice have provided researchers with valuable insight into some of the main distinctions between the human brain development of modern humans and our nearest relative, Neanderthals. About one hundred amino acids went through mutations due to our ancestors. Break with the Neanderthals and these mutations eventually spread to practically all modern people.

The cause behind this alteration has experts scratching their heads for quite some time. Six amino acid alterations in the three proteins that play an essential part in the distribution of chromosomes to the daughter cells, also known as the transporters of genetic material, were discovered during cell division in our bodies.

Specialists from the Institute of Molecular Cellular Biology and Genetics in Germany and researchers from the Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have inserted modern human variations in mice to gain a greater understanding of the underlying reason. Both mice and Neanderthals have the same six amino acid locations across their genomes.

As a result, scientists could use the mice as a model to investigate the development of the human brain. ” Two of the proteins have been identified to have three modern human amino acids. Which creates longer metaphase, where chromosomes are readied for cell division. And this results in fewer errors when the chromosomes are dispersed to the daughter cells of the neural stem cells,” as detailed by geneticist Felipe Mora-Bermdez. The article published in Science Advances bears his name as the primary author.

Researchers experimented with introducing ancestral amino acids into brain organoids to determine. Whether the set of amino acids found in Neanderthals had the opposite impact. These are miniature organs that may be generated in the lab utilizing. Human stem cells in cell culture dishes form structures that resemble organs. The evolution of the human brain in its early stages is mirrored in brain organoids.