Scientists link the gene to the emergence of spoken language

Lisa Fenestak of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the research, said the new study is “a good first step to start looking at specific genes” that may influence the development of speech and language.

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What scientists are learning may one day help people with speech problems.

The genetic variant the researchers were looking for was one of a variety of genes that “contributed to the appearance of… Homo sapiens is the dominant species“Where we are today,” said Dr. Robert Darnell, author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Skull casts are shown inside an exhibit of early human species inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins on July 20, 2023, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)

Darnell has been studying the protein — called NOVA1 and known to be important for brain development — since the early 1990s. In the latest research, scientists in his lab at Rockefeller University in New York used CRISPR gene-editing technology to replace the NOVA1 protein found in mice with the exclusively human type to test the real-life effects of the genetic variant. To their surprise, it changed the way the animals vocalized when they called each other.

The human variant baby mice made a different squeak than their normal littermates when their mothers came over. Adult male mice with the variant chirped differently from their normal counterparts when they saw a female in heat.

Both were environments in which the mice were stimulated to speak, and “they spoke differently” to the human variant, demonstrating its role in speech, Darnell said.

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This is not the first time the gene has been linked to speech. In 2001, British scientists said they had discovered the first gene linked to a language and speech disorder.

This gene is called FOXP2, and is referred to as the human language gene. But although FOXP2 is involved in human language, it turns out that the difference in modern humans was not unique to us. Later research found that it was Shared with Neanderthals. The NOVA1 variant in modern humans, on the other hand, is found exclusively in our own species, Darnell said.

Having a genetic variant isn’t the only reason people talk. The ability also depends on things like anatomical features of the human throat and areas of the brain that work together to allow people to speak and understand language.

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Darnell hopes that the latest work not only helps people better understand their origins, but also ultimately leads to new ways of treating speech-related problems.

It’s likely that the genetic findings may one day allow scientists to detect, very early in life, which people might need speech and language interventions, said the University of Minnesota’s Fenestak.

“That’s definitely a possibility,” she said.