Impact of intermittent lead exposure on hominid brain evolution
Gene-environmental interactions shape the evolution of brain architecture and function. Neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (<i>NOVA1</i>) is one gene that distinguishes modern humans from extinct hominids. However, the evolutionary pressures that selected the modern <i>NOVA1</i> allele remain elusive. Here, we show using fossil teeth that several hominids (<i>Australopithecus africanus</i>, <i>Paranthropus robustus</i>, early <i>Homo</i> sp., <i>Gigantopithecus blacki</i>, <i>Pongo</i> sp., <i>Homo neanderthalensis</i>, and <i>Homo sapiens</i>) were consistently exposed to lead over 2 million years, contradicting the idea that lead exposure is solely a modern phenomenon. Moreover, lead exposure on human brain organoids carrying the archaic <i>NOVA1</i> variant disrupts <i>FOXP2</i> expression in cortical and thalamic organoids, a gene crucial for the development of human speech and language abilities. Overall, the fossil, cellular, and molecular data support that lead exposure may have contributed to the impact of social and behavioral functioning during evolution, likely affording modern humans a survival advantage.
Authors
- Kira Westaway (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5315-778X)
- Aline Maria Araújo Martins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9481-0327)
- Justin W. Adams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6214-9850)
- Ian Moffat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2171-7145)
- Gary T. Schwartz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4428-2102)
- Sandra M. Sánchez-Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2374-1967)
- Christine Austin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9966-0492)
- Bernardo Lemos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6996-9483)
- Wei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5118-7093)
- Luca Fiorenza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7110-3398)
- Christopher A. Barnes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2312-7082)
- Marie‐Hélène Moncel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0398-2316)
- John R. Yates (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5267-1672)
- Filipe F. dos Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2335-463X)
- Luiz Pedro Petroski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0498-7637)
- Rafael L. V. Mercuri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0223-3089)
- Alysson Renato Muotri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0867-2875)
- Matthew P. Tonge
- Janaína Sena de Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3904-7458)
- Marian Bailey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9994-3444)
- Pedro A. F. Galante (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4820-4155)
- Renaud Joannes‐Boyau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0452-486X)
- Manish Arora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3350-4657)
- Gabriela D. A. Guardia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1789-2768)
- Roberto H. Herai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9885-2735)
- Yingqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7783-8336)
- Wei Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3511-2684)
- Jose Oviedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8248-2208)
- Blake L. Tsu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4319-3738)
- Flora Dérognat
Institutions
- Scripps Research Institute (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Amgen (United States) (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- Shandong University (CN)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (BR)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Johannesburg (ZA)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Discovery Institute (US)
- Museums Victoria (AU)
- Universidade Brasil (BR)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (CN)
- Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine (US)
- Department of Physiological Sciences (RU)
- Department of Cultural Heritage (LT)
- Institut de Paléontologie Humaine (FR)
- California Institute for Biomedical Research (US)
- Hospital Sírio-Libanês (BR)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Macquarie University (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-10-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr1524
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.32