Culture, Genes, and the Human Revolution

State-of-the-art DNA sequencing is providing ever more detailed insights into the genomes of humans, extant apes, and even extinct hominins (1-3), offering unprecedented opportunities to uncover the molecular variants that make us human. A common assumption is that the emergence of behaviorally modern humans after 200,000 years ago required-and followed-a specific biological change triggered by one or more genetic mutations. For example, Klein has argued that the dawn of human culture stemmed from a single genetic change that "fostered the uniquely modern ability to adapt to a remarkable range of natural and social circumstance" (4). But are evolutionary changes in our genome a cause or a consequence of cultural innovation (see the figure)?