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Science 14 July 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5784, p. 172
DOI: 10.1126/science.1122712
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Technical Comments

Comment on "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens" and "Microcephalin, a Gene Regulating Brain Size, Continues to Evolve Adaptively in Humans"

Mathias Currat,2 Laurent Excoffier,2 Wayne Maddison,1 Sarah P. Otto,1* Nicolas Ray,2 Michael C. Whitlock,1 Sam Yeaman1{dagger}

Mekel-Bobrov et al. and Evans et al. (Reports, 9 Sept. 2005, p. 1720 and p. 1717, respectively) examined sequence data from modern humans within two gene regions associated with brain development, ASPM and microcephalin, and concluded that selection of these genes must be ongoing. We show that models of human history that include both population growth and spatial structure can generate the observed patterns without selection.

1 Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
2 Computational and Molecular Population Genetics (CMPG), Zoological Institute, University of Bern, 6 Baltzerstrasse, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

{dagger} Authors are listed alphabetically.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: otto{at}zoology.ubc.ca

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)