Several hominid species were consistently exposed to lead for almost two million years, which may have given modern humans a ...

Long before factories, mines, and cars filled the air with pollution, our distant ancestors were already living with a silent ...

Scientists found that one tiny DNA change in the NOVA1 gene helped modern humans resist lead exposure that harmed ...

Lead exposure has been thought to be a uniquely modern phenomenon. Exposure to lead by ancient humans could have given modern humans a survival advantage over other species – more specifically, their ...

UC San Diego researchers have found high levels of lead in the teeth of both Neanderthals (left) and modern humans (right). However, a gene mutation may have protected modern human brains, allowing ...

UC San Diego researchers found that ancient hominids were widely exposed to lead, potentially hindering brain and language development. Modern humans uniquely carry a protective NOVA1 gene variant ...

Fossilized human teeth spanning two million years of evolution had shockingly high contents of lead, which may have been the ...

Almost 2 million years ago, a young ancient human died beside a spring near a lake in what is now Tanzania, in eastern Africa ...

Scientists found that ancient lead exposure shaped early human evolution. The toxin may have played a surprising role in the development of modern cognition and language. An international team of ...

Lead exposure remains a public health issue around the world, even after decades of remediation efforts. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the toxic metal contributed to ...

An international study claims lead was a problem for our ancestors and Homo sapiens might have had a genetic edge over other ...

An international study changes the view that exposure to the toxic metal lead is largely a post-industrial phenomenon. The research reveals that our human ancestors were periodically exposed to lead ...