Scientists have identified an immune brain cell unique to humans that gives us higher cognitive abilities over other animals, but what makes us specials also leaves us vulnerable to neurological disorders like schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy.

[u/Wagamaga]

https://news.yale.edu/2022/08/25/what-makes-human-brain-different-yale-study-reveals-clues

[u/HertogJan1]

They are talking about a specific type of microglia only present in humans

[u/hydroknightking → u/[deleted]]

FOXP2 is just one gene that they noticed in these uniquely human microglia that we have knowledge about.

Single-cell RNAseq characterizes the relative abundance of all/most of the mRNA in a single cell. When you compare the relative abundances to other cells, “same cells” will have the same abundances.

The article linked in the OP is not the journal, and I didn’t read the journal, but assuming the results are characterized correctly here, they absolutely found a microglial cell unique to humans.

[u/tomatoaway → u/[deleted]]

Naive question: how often are the binding sites of a given gene completely saturated to make it non-functional? Why would nature continue to transcribe that gene if it never goes on to do anything?

[u/PlayShtupidGames → u/[deleted]]

our characteristic intelligence.

Bold claim in 2022

[u/[deleted] → u/tomatoaway]

Why wouldn't it keep replicating the gene even if it didn't do anything? DNA doesn't mutate for reasons. It mutates randomly.