Enzyme linked with brain evolution

Enzyme linked with brain evolution

Author: PNAS October 13, 2025 Duration: 10:42

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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Tune into PNAS Science Sessions for a direct line to the people shaping modern science. Produced by PNAS, this podcast offers more than just summaries of published research; it’s where you hear the candid, often personal stories behind the headlines. Each episode features concise conversations with the researchers themselves-from emerging voices to established Academy members-alongside the policymakers whose decisions are informed by this work. You’ll get a genuine sense of the questions that drive these experts, the unexpected hurdles they face in their labs and field studies, and why their findings matter right now. The scope is deliberately wide, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of science itself, covering discoveries that range from microscopic processes to planetary-scale phenomena. This isn't about dry lectures, but about capturing the human endeavor of investigation. For anyone curious about how science actually unfolds and wants to understand the context of breakthroughs as they happen, this podcast serves as an essential, engaging resource. It connects the dots between a published paper in a prestigious journal and the real-world implications that ripple out from it.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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