ARE humans merely one evolutionary step away from other animals or are we something special? The answer tends to depend on your perspective. Neuroscientist , whose is reviewed on page 45, thinks the evolution of humans constitutes a “phase shift” that sets us apart. Conversely, the discovery that the so-called “language gene” is not the uniquely human phenomenon that many believed underlines the growing realisation among biologists that much of what appears to make us different is shared by other species (see “One gene speaks volumes about evolution”).
There is one attribute, however, that indisputably distinguishes…
