One gene reveals clues to why humans may have thrived and Neanderthals didn’t

Humans and Neanderthals are virtually identical at the genetic level. Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.

Excerpt: "Scientists have a new clue in the long quest to decipher what makes us uniquely human: tiny changes in brain chemistry that set us apart from our closest hominin cousins.

In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers scrutinized a version of a gene, ubiquitous in humans today, that is not present in Neanderthals or Denisovans — the hominins that lived alongside our ancestors.

In a lab dish, the modern form of the gene in humans today made an enzyme less stable than the one found in hominin relatives. When researchers introduced that version into mice, they found that in females, it triggered a behavioral change — the mice were more adept at seeking water."