In evolution as on reality TV, sometimes the biggest loser is really a winner.
Losing 510 chunks of DNA may have enabled humans to develop bigger brains, spineless penises and other human traits, researchers from Stanford University and their colleagues report in the March 10 Nature.
The research is the latest attempt to find genetic factors that make humans human. Previously researchers have searched for genes that humans have but other species do not, but the new study turns that approach on its head, looking instead for pages redacted from the human genetic instruction book during the course of evolution.