Humans know how to say thanks to mutations

Mutations in a gene help people develop speech and language.

The scientific community has not found any explanation for the genetic development of human language. But the BBC said, in 1990, US experts studied a family with a language disorder and found that their FOXP2 gene was mutated. Since then, people have continued to find a mutant version of FOXP2 in many vertebrate species.

A study of Neanderthal DNA (an extinct erectile genus) shows that they also carry the mutant version of FOXP2.

Chimpanzees (gibbons) have the FOXP2 gene, but they have no language. So genetic experts at the University of California (USA) decided to explore two versions of FOXP2 gene in humans and chimpanzees to find out the difference.

They found that the structure of FOXP2 in chimpanzees and humans had little difference in the two amino acids - the basic structural unit of proteins and genes.

The analysis then indicated that the FOXP2 gene of the person began to change during the period when we developed the voice. Daniel Geschwind - University of California professor of neurology, psychiatry and genetics - thinks chimpanzees, animals closest to humans, cannot develop their voices because their FOXP2 gene does not change.

FOXP2 creates a protein of the same name. This protein is responsible for turning on, off or controlling the activity of hundreds of other genes.

The team put the FOXP2 version of chimpanzees and humans into neurons. They then followed all the genes turned on by the FOXP2 protein. The results showed that the human version of FOXP2 gene caused effects on 116 genes. But these effects do not occur in chimpanzee genes.

Chimpanzees and chimpanzees have the same FOXP2 gene, but their genes start to change as our voices grow.Photo: Livescience.

Many previous studies have shown that FOXP2 is involved in the development of speech, but the scientific community does not know whether it affects the parts of the language in the brain. But of the 116 FOXP2-affected genes, at least one gene controls the development of brain regions that handle cognitive ability. In other words, FOXP2 is not just a 'language gene'. It can also participate in many kinds of advanced thinking only in humans.

'FOXP2 really plays an important role in the differences between humans and chimpanzees. If this gene changes, our voice and language will become chaotic , 'explains Dr. Geschwind.

However, some other experts are cautious when referring to the role of FOXP2. Marc Hauser, Harvard University's professor of evolutionary biology, said that it is too early to conclude mutations in the FOXP2 gene that cause language and speech barriers.

Derek Bickerton, a professor of languages ​​at the University of Hawaii (USA), said the most important question is not: "How do people have a voice?" but: "Why do we have a voice?".

Bickerton says that speaking ability does not come naturally to people.

'Every animal exists and evolves well even without language. So proving that human voices appear because of a need that other species do not have , 'he concluded.