Evolution of the Human NOVA1 Gene after the African Hominin Split from a Common Ancestral Group: Neuroscientist Robert Darnell’s Case

Darnell thought that NOVA1 might be involved in speech when, as a neurologist, he treated a boy with language and movement problems, who had one working copy of the gene2. A team found a variant of NOVA1 that is different from Neanderthals and another extinct human group called Denisovans, as well as other mammals.

Exhaustive analysis identified only subtle differences between the ‘humanized’ mice and normal rodents: when newborn mice were isolated from their mothers, pups with the human version of NOVA1 had altered distress calls. Male mice with the change made more complex courtship calls in the presence of a female mouse.

To study the effects of the change a neuroscientist in Darnell’s group Yoko Tajima used CRISPR gene editing to engineer mice carrying the human version of NOVA1.

The genetic change — which swaps an isoleucine amino acid for a valine in the encoded protein — was one of just a handful of protein-altering changes that evolved in the more than 500,000 years after the hominin groups split from a common ancestor in Africa. This suggests that the changes benefited early humans so greatly that the mutations became ubiquitous.

Robert Darnell, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University in New York City, first encountered the NOVA1 gene 30 years ago, when his team linked it to an autoimmune disorder that caused severe movement problems in people. The gene is only turned on in the brain when NOVA1 is involved.

Synthetic genomics challenges humans and their environment: Carl Zimmer’s Air-borne as a birds-eye view of the atmosphere and the effects of COVID-19

Normal rodents produce more complex chirps when they have a gene variant present in nearly every human on Earth.

Thanks to recent progress in synthetic genomics technologies, “you can mimic and test evolutionary steps which otherwise would have taken billions of years to evolve — or wouldn’t have evolved ever”, says synthetic genomicist Akos Nyerges. But progress doesn’t always equal smooth sailing. Over the course of a single tweaking or deleted genes, there can be substantial and unexpected challenges, exposing how little we know about the fundamental language of the genome. We underestimated how complex biology is, when it comes to heavily modified genomes.

Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer, wrote about Carl Zimmer’s Air-borne as a fascinating story of the evolution of a highly interdisciplinary field over centuries. The idea that organisms in the air can spread disease and cause destruction was a topic of intense debate for hundreds of years, until the COVID-19 outbreak set the record straight. Marr says the book shows a birds-eye view of the atmosphere and its profound effects on humans.

Source: Daily briefing: CAR-T-cell therapy recipient nears two decades in cancer remission

Smells of an Egyptian mummy can reveal the brain’s migraine, and how CAR T cells can help treat cancers

Widespread experience with migraines can cause headaches, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. Recently approved drugs that alleviate some of the headache symptoms of migraine have redefined it as “a treatable and manageable condition”, says neuropharmacologist Diana Krause. But what makes a person’s brain prone to migraine, and why it affects people differently, is still somewhat of a mystery. To stop migraine completely “we need to create new frameworks to understand how the brain activates the whole system of migraine”, says neurologist Arne May.

Researchers are investigating whether the smell of an Egyptian mummy could enable them to discover what materials were used to preserve the body without disturbing it. They asked expert smellers to rate the smells from the nine mummies because of their scent’s woodiness and sweetness. They analysed the air sample to find volatile compounds that caused the smell. The team also hope their work can provide curators with a synthetic recreation of how mummies smell to make exhibits more engaging.

A woman who received CAR-T-cell therapy to treat a nerve-cell cancer when she was 4 years old is still cancer-free 19 years later, the longest reported cancer remission following the treatment. The therapy used engineered immune cells called CAR T cells. In some blood cancers, CAR-T-cell therapies have proven to be very effective and researchers are struggling to repeat that success against solid tumours. That makes the latest results particularly good news, says paediatric oncologist Sneha Ramakrishna.