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Chimps, Humans Differ More Then Thought

Posted by Hemos on from the looking-at-our-past dept.

DrLudicrous writes "CNN is carrying an article about a researcher at CalTech. Biologist Roy Briton undertook a comparison of human and chimp genomes, and came up with a 5% difference, versus the usual 2% cited in the literature. You can read the article at CNN. This seems to point out that chimps and humans most likely had a more distant ancestor than thought- but the results also need to be examined and redone by 3rd parties to ensure objectivity. Interesting stuff."

5 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. How hard is it to figure out? by Bouncings · · Score: 3

    Perl:

    print system('diff chimps.genome humans.gnome | wc -l') / system('cat chimps.genome humans.gnome | wc -l');

    --
    -- Ken Kinder ken@_nospam_kenkinder.com http://kenkinder.com/
  2. Percent? by Captain_Stupendous · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't "Percent difference" completely irrelevant when comparing DNA? I was under the impression that we shared something like 99% of our DNA with invertebrates, plants, and other unexpected, non-humanoid lifeforms.

    --


    I am alone, yet I also surf the universal backwash of undifferentiated Being, which is LOVE.
  3. We have a different number of chromosomes.... by mishac · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes and we have 46. Doesn't that mean that we the genomes are at LEAST 4.167% (2/48) different? Then where did the 2% figure come from in the first place? I realise that having less chromosomes doesn't mean that we dont ahve the same genes, which could be in different places than in a chimp, but doesnt this count as a "difference" too?

    1. Re:We have a different number of chromosomes.... by esme · · Score: 4, Informative
      Genetic difference is typically not measured in total genetic material -- they could have a lot of the same DNA sequences, but moved around within their chromosomes differently. So you can't just count up the chromosomes or the total ammount of genetic material. Genes actually get moved around a fair amount, so you can't assume that the DNA is just going to stay in the same order as one long string over millions of years. Genes get mixed up a lot during sperm production, including some genes that jump to other chromosomes.

      Genetic difference is usually measured by comparing sections of the DNA that perform the same function (e.g., produce the same protein). The rationale for doing it this way is that if you assume that there is a common ancestor, then the section of DNA would have been identical when the divergence began. Since individuals who have the section that produces a required protein (e.g., hemaglobin) isn't going to survive, you can count on that section having been continguous in both animals since the genetic divergence began.

      -Esme

  4. Re:Chimp/Gorilla Genome project by Gerry+Gleason · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now that there is a baseline sequence for humans, we need to do the same for all the great apes. I would think this would be valuable on a number of levels.

    This is why we can't just do the diff, although I would think order of billions would be a bit big on most platforms as well.