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Genomic Imprinting As a Window into Human Language Evolution

“…If, for some loci, this is the case, then it is expected to have important medical consequences, as imprinting alters both the frequency and the severity of mutations occurring at these loci. [93] These severe mutational effects are expected to be made more extreme still by interlocus conflict. [61,94] Furthermore, as these genes are expressed in a parent-of-origin manner, mutations to these genes will also have parent-of-origin effects.…”

“…Previously, other imprinted genes have been implicated in a wide range of human pathologies, including growth and developmental disorders, cancers, and infertility. [93,95,96] The phenotypic consequences of mutations to imprinted genes therefore provide both a useful application of the theory to understand associated pathologies and also another avenue for empirical testing.…”

“…[98] Nonetheless, previous examples have shown how certain pathologies associated with imprinted genes can be explained in the light of the kinship theory. [93] For example, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) and Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) are disorders that can be caused by opposite epimutations to the imprinted ICR1 region. [99] Normally, the paternal-origin copy of this region is methylated and the maternal-origin copy is not.…”