• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

american academy of arts & sciences winter 2018 www.amacad.org Bulletin vol. lxxi, no. 2 Induction Ceremony 2017 Class Speakers: Jane Mayer, Ursula Burns, James P. Allison, Heather K. Gerken, and Gerald Chan Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture Looking at Earth: An Astronaut’s Journey David M. Rubenstein and Kathryn D. Sullivan ALSO: How Are Humans Different from Other Great Apes?–Ajit Varki, Pascal Gagneux, and Fred H. Gage Advancing Higher Education in America–Monica Lozano, Robert J. Birgeneau, Bob Jacobsen, and Michael S. McPherson Redistricting and Representation–Patti B. Saris, Gary King, Jamal Greene, and Moon Duchin presentations Morton L. Mandel Public Lecture How Are Humans Different from Other Great Apes? n October 23, 2017, at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in San Diego, California, the Acad- emy, in collaboration with the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (carta), host- O ed the Morton L. Mandel Public Lecture on “How Are Humans Different from Other Great Apes?” The pro- gram, which served as the 2060th Stated Meeting of the Academy, included a welcome from Gordon N. Gill (Univer- sity of California, San Diego School of Medicine; Chair of the Academy’s San Diego Program Committee) and featured remarks from Pascal Gagneux (University of California, San Diego; carta) on Genomics, Life History and Reproduc- tion; Fred H. Gage (The Salk Institute; carta) on Genetics and Brain Development; Margaret J. Schoeninger (Uni- versity of California, San Diego; carta) on Anatomy and Behavior; and Ajit Varki (University of California, San Diego; carta) on Common Disease Profiles. The following is an edited transcript of some of the presentations. Introduction t is a privilege and honor for an organiza- ancestor with Old World monkeys, then Ition that is less than ten years old (name- with Gibbons and other lesser apes, then ly, carta) to partner with one that orig- with orangutans, followed by the gorilla and inated before the U.S. Constitution was eventually with the common ancestor of the written (the American Academy of Arts and chimpanzee and bonobo, the so-called pyg- Sciences). A common theme supported by my chimpanzee. Based on anatomical, phys- both organizations is the discovery and dis- ical, and behavioral features, we humans semination of factual knowledge. Time does classified our closest evolutionary relatives not allow me to provide a description of the as “the Great Apes.” In reality we are more origins and goals of carta, so I will simply similar at the genomic level to chimpanzees read our mission statement: and bonobos than these two species are to “To use all rational and ethical approaches to gorillas. Moreover, at the genomic level, we seek all verifiable facts from all relevant disciplines are more similar to chimpanzees than mice to explore and explain the origins of the human and rats are to each other. phenomenon, while minimizing complex organi- Thus, from a genomic perspective, hu- Ajit Varki zational structures and hierarchies, and avoiding mans are nothing more than one kind of Ajit Varki is Distinguished Professor of Med- unnecessary procedural complexities. In the pro- “Great Ape”; the correct term encompass- icine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine and cess, train a new generation of scholars in anthro- ing all these groups is “Hominid.” Asking Co-Director of the Glycobiology Research and pogeny [understanding the origin of humans], how we are different from the other Homi- nids is one way to understand our own evo- Training Center at the University of California, and also raise awareness and understanding of the study of human origins within the academic lutionary origins, an approach that we call San Diego; Executive Co-Director of UCSD/ community and the public at large.” “Comparative Anthropogeny.” Salk Center for Academic Research and Train- The overall question at hand today is: How Carrying out this comparison requires at- ing in Anthropogeny; and Adjunct Professor at Are Humans Different from Other Great tention to a very large body of knowledge. the Salk Institute. He was elected a Fellow of the Apes? At first glance, the last three One of the currently incomplete efforts of American Academy in 2005. words–“Other Great Apes”–may appear carta is to try to collate this knowledge on a bit strange. Let me explain. Humans are, our website under the rubric of The Matrix of course, primates, who shared a common of Comparative Anthropogeny (moca), 28 Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Winter 2018 how are humans different from other great apes? One of the striking differences between humans and their closest living relatives is the schedule of life. In several aspects, humans have slowed down. ist in at least two different species, but there is only a single species of humans today that has colonized the entire planet. Each of us, as long as we live, is a unique mosaic of a genome that consists of 46 piec- which is a collection of comparative infor- Pascal Gagneux es of chromatin, reshuffled from our par- mation regarding humans and our closest Pascal Gagneux is Associate Professor of Pathol- ents. Each of your haploid genomes is about evolutionary cousins, with an emphasis on ogy and Anthropology at the University of Cal- a meter long. So you have about two me- uniquely human features. ifornia, San Diego, and Associate Director of ters of dna in each one of your cells. That is still very incomplete, but it sounds mighty short, but each meter con- moca UCSD/Salk Center for Academic Research and is organized by Domains (each with de- tains three billion base pairs, and therefore Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA). fined Topics) arranged by areas of inter- we have two times three billion base pairs. est and scientific discipline. Some exam- One of the ongoing research projects in ples of moca Domains are: Anatomy and On Genomics, Life History, many labs around the world is to identify Biomechanics, Behavior, Cell Biology and and Reproduction differences in the genomes of hundreds of Biochemistry, Cognition, Communication, different apes and thousands of different Culture, Dental Biology and Disease, Devel- would like to start with a little bit of humans, which are now available for study opment, and Ecology. In the time available I geography. Humans are the only peri- because the entire genome, each of the three today, we cannot possibly cover even a small planetary ape. In contrast to us, our closest billion base pairs, has been sequenced. portion of these Domains of knowledge. In- living relatives are restricted to the tropical The results are showing some very sur- stead, our panelists will explore some spe- forests of Africa and Asia. As Ajit has just prising findings. There are huge differenc- cific examples of distinctly human features, mentioned, we are more closely related to es in copies. For example, there are copies ranging from genetic to cognitive to ana- two species of these Great Apes. Some peo- of segments that can range from a couple tomical to behavioral to biomedical, while ple have started debating whether we should of base pairs to millions of base pairs that also considering implications for explaining be in the genus Pan or whether the two spe- have expanded in only one species of ape, human origins. cies of Pan should be in the genus Homo. or in chimpanzees and gorillas, but not in Paradoxically, the living apes, even though humans. In the reverse, we have copies of their populations are under very intense chunks of dna that have only expanded in threat from deforestation and direct hunt- humans but not in the other apes. ing, still contain more genetic variability And there are completely novel genes than all seven billion humans on the planet that pop up in different species. There are today. The other striking contrast you might pseudogenes that are still recognizable notice is that all the other apes, except us, ex- based on their dna sequence, but have Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Winter 2018 29 presentations Human minds are effective copying ma- One of the ongoing research projects in many chines. Somebody comes up with a good labs around the world is to identify differences in idea, and then everybody in the group maintains that idea. We develop a ratch- the genomes of hundreds of different apes and eting culture, in which we build upon each thousands of different humans, which are now other’s ideas. One very interesting idea is that this de- available for study because the entire genome, each layed development is actually a biological assimilation of the cultural input. Humans of the three billion base pairs, has been sequenced. in hunter-gatherer societies have a shorter inter-birth interval than apes. Humans can stopped encoding proteins. You can mine grandmotherhood, and sometimes grand- give birth about every three years, chim- the genomic data to find evidence for re- parenthood for relatively long periods–up to panzees only every five or more years. Even cent positive selection, in which natural se- 30 percent of the total lifespan is comprised though our babies are costly, we can produce lection has forced more changes to the pro- of the post-reproductive survival phase. more of them than our living Great Ape rel- tein-coding dna than you would expect. Some have proposed that this might have atives. And when humans are done making Humans are made of trillions of cells, and been an adaptation to cultural opportuni- babies, they actually survive for a long time. different cell types play a different subrou- ties, given the importance of cultural trans- Our societies, long before medicine, the In- tine off the mostly clonal genome that is in fer in our species.

Load more

  9

Copy Link