Role of Mutated Gene in the Evolution of Large Brained,...

Role of Mutated Gene in the Evolution of Large Brained, Small-Jawed Humans The debate with-in the anthropology field has been heated over the evolution of the human and the events that have lead us to where we are now. One of the major questions that is debated is how did we, humans-large brained and small jawed, evolve from primates-large jawed and small brained. Interestingly enough, this debate is now being directed from outside the field; by biologists and plastic surgeons. On march 25, 2004, Doctors Stedman (and others) published their findings in Nature (VOL 428) under the title Myosin gene mutation correlates with anatomical changes in the human lineage. Their findings point to the gene myosin and its mutated form MYH16 and†¦show more content†¦The mutations though are not found in other primates, even in chimpanzees the closes relative to humans alive (Associated Press). So at some point Humans evolutionary track shifted, incorporating this mutated gene. The question that next needs to be asked is why is this important, what does the gene mutation actually do? What is being suggested is that when the gene mutated, there was less muscles pulling and attached on the cranial bone of our ancestors. And because muscles can stunt bone growth and will sculpt the bones that it is attached to. It can have a crucial role in bone growth, in this case skull growth. When the head structures of the macaque (as well as other primates) were compared to humans, it was seen that the crests on the heads differed as well. The large crests on the macaque exemplify the how jaw muscles attach to the head and leave little room for the brain, and this crest is close to non-existent in human heads for smaller, less powerful jaws. By having smaller muscles there are smaller anchors attached to the head and the skull is free to grow into a round shape. It is thus suspected that powerful jaws are incompatible with large powerful brains (Hopkin). The more interesting point about the mutated gene, to help further idea that the big brain and powerful jaw are dissonant, is when the mutation toke place. As the