It’s been more than a few months since the news broke, but we can’t let it go overlooked because it has a lot to do with how pants would be tailored today if evolution had taken an entirely different track.
Oh, and car seats might look different. And swimsuits, too.
Yes, we’re talking about the human tail.
Or lack thereof.
It all happened about 25 million years ago when ancestors of both humans and apes genetically diverged from monkeys and started losing their tails.
Earlier this year, as reported in the journal Nature, researchers were able to identify a unique DNA mutation that drove the loss of those anatomical features.
The mutation is located in the TBXT gene and before we go any further, here’s a quick reminder that the TBXT gene is responsible encoding the brachyury protein, a key player in early embryonic development. (We’re sure you knew that, but just wanted a quick refresher in case you’d forgotten.)
The research started with an injury. Study author Bo Xia, a principal investigator at the Broad Institute, injured his tailbone and started to ask questions to learn more, specifically about the DNA changes that led to the loss of the tail.
Some changes to DNA over time are complex. Some involve minor changes. But there’s also something called “Alu elements” involved. And introns. And exons, the so-called “dark matter” of the genome.
Since we’re not experts on DNA sequencing, let’s just cut to the chase. The researchers decided to test their theory about the mutation by inserting the same so-called “jumping genes” into mice.
The mice soon lost their tails.
It’s no small detail. Many evolutionary biologists hypothesize that it was the loss of the tail that allowed humans to become bipedal.
So this tiny mutation of gene might have led to bipedalism, a bigger brain, and the beginning of using technology for the species’ overall gain. The loss of the tail led to the benefit for the head (and brain).
One side discovery, as noted in an article in Live Science, is that researchers found that the mice without tails demonstrated a greater prevalence of spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the neural tube (an embryonic structure that’s key to the spinal cord and brain). Essentially, spina bifida leaves a hole in the neural tube.
So maybe some incredible medical advancement will be possible by better understanding of how the TBXT gene comes together.
But, next time you’re pulling on your pants stop to think about what might have been.
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