Speech: The molecular components

For the first time, a gene has been identified as responsible for a specific human language disorder. The gene encodes an unusual member of a family of proteins involved in embryogenesis, the Winged Helix/Forkhead transcription factors. Disruption of the FOXP2 gene appears to affect the brain at an early stage in development, leading to abnormality in neural structures important for speech and language.

A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder
CECILIA S. L. LAI, SIMON E. FISHER, JANE A. HURST, FARANEH VARGHA-KHADEM & ANTHONY P. MONACO
Nature 413, 519-523 (4 October 2001)
| First Paragraph | Full Text | PDF (261 K) | Supplementary Information |

Talk of genetics and vice versa
STEVEN PINKER
Does our ability to talk lie in our genes? The suspicion is bolstered by the discovery of a gene that might affect how the brain circuitry needed for speech and language develops.
Nature 413, 465-466 (4 October 2001)
| Full Text | PDF (126 K) |

4 October 2001 table of contents