Scientists have found areas of our genome implicated in the development of language, shedding light on how networks of genes help to build our language-ready brains. Work has focused on the FOXP2 gene – a gene that regulates the activity of other genes. Variations in related genes such as CNTNAP2 can affect a person’s risk of developing a particular speech disorder. This is likely to be due to faulty wiring in the nervous system involving a protein called neurexin.