What is the biological basis of our uniquely human capacity to speak, read and write? A genome-wide analysis of five reading- and language-based skills in many thousands of people, published in PNAS, identifies shared biology contributing to these traits. Findings from previous smaller genetic studies were not replicated. The international team—led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, the Netherlands—also uncovered genetic links with language-related brain areas.