in a new study published in Science, geneticists offer a third explanation for why our brains are so big: We just got lucky.
, the director of the Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology in California, likes to think of it as rolling dice. Every time another member of a species is born, there’s a chance that mutations will spring up in their genome. Each new generation gets more opportunities to score big with tweaks in the gene pool that increase the odds of survival. These beneficial mutations are more likely to stick around as organisms thrive and pass them on to offspring.
back in 2006 when comparing the genomes of humans to chimpanzees. HARs work as gene enhancers, controlling which genes are turned up or down during embryonic development, especially for brain formation.HARs in humans are very similar in each individual but vary when compared to accelerated regions in other vertebrates like chimps, frogs, and chickens.
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