IQ booster: gene mutation decoded - but it also has bad side effects

Created: 05/22/2022, 15:21

By: Yasina Hipp

A mutation changes human DNA in a way that increases intelligence.

© picture alliance/dpa/Ingo Wagner

A rare gene mutation increases intelligence in humans, but it also causes blindness.

A research team explains.

Würzburg/Leipzig - "It is very rare that a mutation leads to an improvement instead of a loss of functions," states Tobias Langenhan, neurobiologist at the University of Leipzig.

However, this seems to be the case with the gene mutation that he and his team are currently investigating.

At least partially.

The focus of the scientists: the CORD7 mutation.

This exchanges an amino acid in a protein that is active both in the retina and in the synapses of the brain.

As a result, CORD7 appears to have negative effects on vision but positive effects on intelligence.

Gene mutation alters communication between nerve cells

In most cases, changes in our DNA code caused by mutations have little or no consequences.

In rare extreme cases, it can also lead to fatal diseases in the worst case.

The CORD7 mutation now appears to be a special case among mutations.

On the one hand, it causes those affected to go blind due to the decline of the visual sensory cells.

On the other hand, it apparently also triggers an increase in intelligence.

"Our assumption: the mutation makes the patients so smart because it improves communication between the nerve cells in which the modified protein is integrated," explains Tobias Langenhan.

People suffering from the mutation would do remarkably well on tests of their verbal intelligence and working memory.

Gene mutation: Researchers study the brains of flies

In order to track down the unusual CORD7 mutation, the research team led by Tobias Langenhan and Mila Paul from the University of Würzburg are examining the brains of fruit flies.

Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors, they introduced the mutation into the fly's genome and then observed the consequences.

And indeed: "We were actually able to observe that the animals with the mutation showed increased information transmission at the synapses," the researchers report in their study.

Apparently, moving the active zones of the synapses closer together results in a “faster, more efficient synapse reaction” and an increase in the “available messenger substance pool”.

According to the researchers, these findings can therefore also be transferred to the human brain.

On the one hand, the CORD7 mutation leads to a real IQ boost, on the other hand, it robs those affected of their eyesight.