A new Oxford study reveals that ancient genome duplications—copies of entire sections of DNA that multiplied in our early ancestors—provided the raw genetic material that enabled the evolution of complex brains. These duplications, which occurred over a billion years ago, created evolutionary 'spares' that organisms could modify and repurpose without losing critical functions. Over millions of years, this genetic redundancy allowed for increasingly sophisticated neural circuits and brain structures. The findings help explain how vertebrates, including humans, developed the computational power of our modern brains from simpler ancestral designs.

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