The 15 Tweaks That Made Us Human

Our genes start changing

Our ancestors split from their chimp-like relatives over 7 million years ago. At first, they would have looked similar. But within their cells, change was afoot. After the split, the ASPM and ARHGAP11B genes began changing, as did a region called HAR1. It's not clear what this did, but HAR1 and ARHGAP11B are involved in the growth of the cerebral cortex.