PNAS Science Sessions13 Loka 2025

Enzyme linked with brain evolution

Implications of a mutation in modern humans

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Xiangchun Ju and Svante Pääbo explore the evolutionary implications of a mutation that separates modern humans from ancestral hominins.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00]
•[01:22] Neurobiologist Xiangchun Ju introduces the enzyme adenylosuccinate lyase, or ADSL, and its role in the synthesis of purine.
•[02:09] Evolutionary anthropologist Svante Pääbo talks about the discovery of the A429V mutation, which is present in modern humans but not Neanderthals or Denisovans.
•[03:38] Ju and Pääbo talk about the methods to humanize mice in order to study the evolutionary importance of the A429V mutation.
•[05:04] They explain the results of the behavioral studies of the humanized mice.
•[06:27] Pääbo explores the takeaways from the study.
•[08:05] He contextualizes the study alongside other studies of modern human development.
•[09:17] Pääbo and Ju list the caveats and limitations of the study.
•[10:14] Conclusion.

About Our Guests:

Xiangchun Ju
Postdoctoral scholar
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Svante Pääbo
Director
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2508540122

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