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Comment
. 2012 May 11;149(4):737-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.04.020.

Sibling rivalry among paralogs promotes evolution of the human brain

Chris Tyler-Smith  1 , Yali Xue
Affiliations
Comment

Sibling rivalry among paralogs promotes evolution of the human brain

Chris Tyler-Smith et al. Cell. .

Abstract

Geneticists have long sought to identify the genetic changes that made us human, but pinpointing the functionally relevant changes has been challenging. Two papers in this issue suggest that partial duplication of SRGAP2, producing an incomplete protein that antagonizes the original, contributed to human brain evolution.

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Figures

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Evolutionary context of SRGAP2 duplications on the human lineage
In A-D, the vertical axis shows evolutionary time from the present (0, bottom) to seven million years ago (top). Horizontal dotted lines represent times of SRGAP2 duplications with their uncertainty indicated by grey shading. (A) Brain volume estimates of fossils and living humans, colored according to genus. (B) Timescales of genera thought to include human ancestors. (C) Sequence of duplication events of SRGAP2 copies. (D) Inferred SRGAP2 activity as a consequence of duplication of antagonistic paralogs and the decay of SRGAP2B. (E) Levels of protein (schematic) and copy number of paralogs in modern humans.
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