> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2772241.stm
>
> The gene that maketh man?
>
> The gene is found only in human-like primates US scientists have
> identified a gene which they say could explain why humans are unique.
>
> It seems to have arisen between 21 and 33 million years ago, when
> primates were becoming more human-like.
>
> The gene emerged about the time the path that led to humans, chimps,
> orangutans and gorillas was splitting off from that of old and new
> world monkeys.
>
> The gene could have duplicated itself, creating many new ones specific
> to humans, according to researchers at Harvard University in
> Massachusetts.
>
> Genetic clues
>
> Science has long sought to explain why we are different from our
> closest animal cousins - the primates.
>
> Knowledge of the human DNA sequence gained by the Human Genome Project
> allows the question to be explored by comparing stretches of DNA.
>
> The newly-discovered gene, known as Tre2, is found in very few mammals
> apart from humans and their closest relatives.
>
> It is absent from more primitive primates such as the lemur, but is
> found in higher primates such as gorillas, chimps and orangutans.
>
> Ascent of humans
>
> The gene seems to have emerged when two other genes fused together
> during the evolution of higher primates.
>
> Half of it is similar to an ancient gene found in many animals, while
> the rest has much in common with a gene confined to human-like
> primates.
>
> Its sudden appearance relatively late in the history of the animal
> kingdom could have been the trigger for the evolution of humankind,
> although so far this is only a theory.
>
> The products of the gene are found mainly in the testes, so the
> researchers think that it may be linked to human reproduction.
>
> "Our findings have potential implications for understanding genetic
> differences between humans and other primates," says team leader Dr
> Daniel Haber.
>
> The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
> of Sciences.
>
>
> ===============================================================
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