Genes are the basic building blocks for all organisms; these stretches of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) code for all functional proteins and RNA chains; these proteins and RNA chains are the essential molecules for life. These genes hold important and essential information to maintain an organism’s cells and pass on these genetic traits to their offsprings.

Natural selection is the gradual process through which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment. Natural selection is an important concept as it is responsible for shaping the genetic basis of traits, which results in biological adaptation (Pinker & Bloom, 1990).

One compelling, yet controversial, theory proposed is the Forkhead box protein P2 (FOXP2) gene and the role it possibly plays with reference to human language. The FOXP2 protein is encoded by the FOXP2 genes in humans and it many studies have shown that it plays an important role, albeit unclear, in proper speech and language development.

There are a few FOXP2 studies examined in this wikichapter, along with an evaluation and a summary of the gene’s origins.