Mice, Chimpanzees and the Brain
Wolfgang Enard

Maybe the main challenge for human evolutionary genetics is to experimentally test hypotheses concerning the genetic basis of human brain evolution. The research goal of our group is to explore ways to experimentally model particular genetic changes that occurred on the human lineage.

Our current focus is a mouse model in which two amino acid changes that occurred during human evolution in the transcription factor FOXP2, have been introduced in the endogenous Foxp2 gene of the mouse. We study this and other mouse model using electrophysiological, behavioral and molecular approaches.

In collaboration with Wieland Huttner we also explore mouse models important for the evolution of human brain size and exploit existing and in-house genomic data sets to identify additional candidates.