Comment on "Ongoing adaptive evolution of ASPM, a brain size determinant in Homo sapiens" and "Microcephalin, a gene regulating brain size, continues to evolve adaptively in humans".

• publication
• 15-07-2006

Currat M, Excoffier L, Maddison W, Otto SP, Ray N, Whitlock MC, Yeaman S. Science 2006 Jul;313(5784):172; author reply 172. 313/5784/172a. 10.1126/science.1122712.

Mekel-Bobrov et al. and Evans et al. (Reports, 9 Sept. 2005, p. 1720 and p. 1717, respectively) examined sequence data from modern humans within two gene regions associated with brain development, ASPM and microcephalin, and concluded that selection of these genes must be ongoing. We show that models of human history that include both population growth and spatial structure can generate the observed patterns without selection.

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