Singing in songbirds is a model used to study speech production in humans. Humans have much in common with the learning circuitry of songbirds. Researchers identify that gene regulation is specific to each region of the brain involved in song production. They suggest that singing related genes were already primed with epigenetic marks for activation before singing happened. It is a combination of region-specific transcription factors, their binding motifs, and histone regulated gene activation. Sequencing is helping us closely understand this complex circuitry, which can shed light on the very capability we take for granted – Speech. For more information on applications of Illumina technology in the field of Genomics, please visit us at Illumina: Genomics http://www.illumina.com/applications/sequencing/dna_sequencing.ilmn Products: HiSeq: http://www.illumina.com/systems/hiseq_2500_1500.ilmn Publication Links: PMID: 25504732 | Whitney O., et al (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504732 Publication Research Reviews: http://www.illumina.com/science/publications/publications-review.ilmn The Science Mondays (SciMon) series is brought to you by Illumina http://www.illumina.com/ Illumina hosts Swati Kadam, Ph.D., Scientific Liaison, Scientific Affairs and Jacques Retief, Associate Director Scientific Affairs deliver 5 minutes of scientific enlightenment on the latest discoveries.