First experimental genetic evidence of the human self-domestication hypothesis

A new University of Barcelona study reveals the first empirical genetic evidence of human self-domestication, a hypothesis that humans have evolved friendlier and more cooperative by selecting their companions depending on their behaviour. Researchers identified a genetic network involved in the unique evolutionary trajectory of the modern human face and prosociality, which is absent in the Neanderthals genome. The experiment is based on Williams Syndrome cells, a rare disease.