There are many things that set humans apart from other animals, but few of them are as notable as our ability to communicate. Sure, most animals are able to make noises, and many of them can send surprisingly complex messages using their vocalization abilities.

None of them can come close, however, to the level of communication that humans have developed.

There are many reasons for this, but one that is believed to be among the most significant is the NOVA1 gene, which is unique to humans.

A team of researchers published a paper in the journal Nature Communications where they looked at the results of what happened when they inserted this gene into mice.

Robert B Darnell is the study author and the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology at Rockefeller University. He recently put out a statement where he said:

“All baby mice make ultrasonic squeaks to their moms, and language researchers categorize the varying squeaks as four ‘letters’—S, D, U, and M. We found that when we ‘transliterated’ the squeaks made by mice with the human-specific [language gene] variant, they were different from those of the wild-type mice. Some of the ‘letters’ had changed.”

These changes were persistent as well, with the study showing that as the mice matured, they made difference noises than natural mice for things like attracting a mate. Darnell explained:

“They ‘talked’ differently to the female mice. One can imagine how such changes in vocalization could have a profound impact on evolution.”

The ability to communicate complex information vocally provides humans with a huge advantage today, but that has been true for thousands of years. The unique NOVA1 variant of this gene seems to have evolved with modern man since it is not found in known Neanderthal DNA. Darnell says:

“Our data show that an ancestral population of modern humans in Africa evolved the human variant I197V, which then became dominant, perhaps because it conferred advantages related to vocal communication. This population then left Africa and spread across the world.”

This leads to speculation that the early humans who had this genetic advantage likely survived because of it, and the humans without it died out.

Of course, additional research will be needed to confirm this type of theory.

That is one important gene!

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