So how long until we can "uplift" these marmosets to near human intelligence? Also, does increased expression of this gene in humans result in further development of the neocortex?
Notably, this isn't the first time there was a success in murine cognitive enhancement via genetic engineering. There was a promising line of research targeting NR2B overexpression: [1][2].
There seems to be an unfortunate lack of funding and research in this area.
1. https://www.nature.com/articles/43432
2. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
One way that happens for instance is packing/unpacking of the chromatin (genes in densely packed chromatin are not accessible). The trick is that chromatin can easily pack or unpack depending on what is going on around.
Another simpler possibility is that there is a molecule that binds (stochastically) near promoter region (the place from which the gene is being transcribed) and hence influences the rate at which the gene is transcribed.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression#...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology
3. http://rulai.cshl.edu/cgi-bin/TRED/tred.cgi?process=home
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML https://github.com/SysBioChalmers/Human-GEM
5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-019-1730-3
6. https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/...
...
What if we uplifted a species enough for its living representative to express their gratitude to us in our own language? Is it completely impossible, or merely unlikely?
Although, at least mice are omnivores and don't have to build their brains out of hay like a guinea pig.