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The Human Mutation
eldavojohn writes "Scientists in China have announced finding the gene that makes us human. The article explains that prior work has shown that humans, as compared with the great apes from which we diverged over 5 million years ago, have a longer form of a protein (type II neuropsin) located in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. From the article: 'Gene sequencing revealed a mutation specific to humans that triggers a change in the splicing pattern of the neuropsin gene, creating a new splicing site and a longer protein. Introducing this mutation into chimpanzee DNA resulted in the creation of type II neuropsin. "Hence, the human-specific mutation is not only necessary but also sufficient in creating the novel splice form," the authors state.' The team is urging further analysis of the extra 45 amino acids in type II neuropsin since they believe that chain may cause protein structural and functional changes. The research didn't link anything with this protein, simply identifying it as a very distinct difference between us and our closest cousins."
Putting human brain genes in chimps, this is how it all starts. A thousand years from now some astronaut returning to earth is going to be saying "Get your hands off me, you damn dirty ape!"
...is that your pets have been already eating it for two months!
Chip H.
> I for one, welcome our new english speaking tyrannical ape-like overlords.
You're about six years too late for that.
This is one of a large number of variants between humans and apes. There's no reason to think this is "the gene that makes us human", they're not claiming it is, and reporting this not-especially-interesting news accurately would allow just as many moronic comments about creationism.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
that's a very disrespectful comparison to the chief and vice executives, you should be ashamed. Apes are noble creatures.
Now, with the introduction of said protein, putting a hundred monkeys into a room with typewriters will indeed produce a work the likes of William Shakespear. Only now the chimps will each sue each other for infringing on each other's intellectual property.
>> I for one, welcome our new english speaking tyrannical ape-like overlords.
> You're about six years too late for that.
The original poster said "english speaking", clearly this can't be a reference to the president.
9. World's knowledge of the world is slightly improved by Scientist affirming suspected hypothesis and introducing more data to World.
Not every scientific discovery has to be of the earth-shaking, paradigm-shifting variety.
- 1) they'll regard it as a new revelation of [God]'s mystery
- 2) they'll regard it as neat information about the world, but irrelevant to their faith because their faith isn't derived from anything in the physical world, or
- 3) they'll regard it as a test of their faith
Thoreau once said, "Only that day dawns to which we are awake." There's a lesson in there: there's no other possible world available to you than the one you've made space for in your mind. The religious are awake to their kind of day, and you and I are awake to a different kind of day based on different logical, rational, or asserted postulates (from which all else follows pretty rationally once you accept the prior postulate).Hey, for all we know, they might be right. (May his noodly gloriousness be merciful when the rapture comes, if that's the case.)
If there's one thing I won't stand for, it's intolerance.
How is this insightful?
'It is the recognition of Santa Claus, the concept of Santa. No matter if you accept it or deny it, or say "I do not know". If you capable to answer the question "Does Santa Claus exist?" in any way: positive, negative or ignorant way, once you have been presented with it, then you are a human.'
We do not need God or even a "concept of God" to be human.