Shaping human brain development and vulnerability through alternative splicing

Alternative splicing contributes to shaping lineage-specific gene expression and phenotypes. In this issue of Cell Genomics, Recinos, Bao, Wang, et al.1 report that the balance between splicing isoforms of the microtubule-associated protein Tau in the brain is differentially regulated among primates by the RNA-binding protein MBNL2, with consequences for protein aggregation and neurodegeneration in humans.