Right- or left-handed? Protein in embryo cells might help decide

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Dozens of genetic factors have been associated with left-handedness, which occurs in roughly one in ever ten people. Credit: incamerastock/Alamy

To what extent do genes determine how you pick up your morning cup of coffee? Researchers examined rare genetic variants from a database of more than 350,000 individuals’ genetic data to hunt for clues for what influences handedness in humans. Their findings implicate tubulins — proteins that build cells’ internal skeletons.

The results, published on 2 April in Nature Communications1, were obtained specifically at protein-coding parts of the DNA, and add to previous studies that linked genetic variations with handedness .

“This is an important and significant study” that supports tubulins’ involvement in determining the left–right brain asymmetry, says Sebastian Ocklenburg, a neuroscientist at the Medical School Hamburg in Germany.

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