Research led by University of California, San Diego - Evolution: Lab-grown 'Mini Brains' suggest one mutation might have rewired the human mind

Title:

Evolution: Lab-grown 'Mini Brains' suggest one mutation might have rewired the human mind

Authors:

Itzia Ferrer and Per Brattås

Published:

SingularityHub, 7 March 2021

https://singularityhub.com/2021/03/07/evolution-lab-grown-mini-brains-suggest-one-mutation-might-have-rewired-the-human-mind/

From the article:

It has long been unclear which evolutionary changes have been the most important. A team of scientists led by Alysson Muotri at the University of California, San Diego, recently published a study in Science that shed some light on this question.  

 

They did this by growing mini brains—which are known scientifically as “organoids”—from stem cells derived from skin. Brain organoids aren’t conscious in the way we are—they are very simple and do not reach sizes larger than around five or six millimeters, due to a lack of blood supply. But they can emit brainwaves and grow relatively complex neural networks that respond to light.

Neanderthal and Denisovan Y Chromosomes Sequenced – Surprise When Compared to Modern Human DNA

Title:

Neanderthal and Denisovan Y Chromosomes Sequenced – Surprise When Compared to Modern Human DNA

 

By:

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft 

Published:

SciTechDaily, 26 september 2020

https://scitechdaily.com/neanderthal-and-denisovan-y-chromosomes-sequenced-surprise-when-compared-to-modern-human-dna/

 

From the article:

In 1997, the very first Neanderthal DNA sequence — just a small part of the mitochondrial genome — was determined from an individual discovered in the Neander Valley, Germany, in 1856. Since then, improvements in molecular techniques have enabled scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to determine high quality sequences of the autosomal genomes of several Neanderthals, and led to the discovery of an entirely new group of extinct humans, the Denisovans, who were relatives of the Neanderthals in Asia.