robert karl stonjek

The chimpanzee genome is unveiled
18:00 31 August 2005
Robin Orwant

The genome of our closest living relative - the chimpanzee - has been
released by an international consortium of scientists.

The chimp genome sequence, which consists of 2.8 billion pairs of DNA
letters, will not only tell us much about chimps but a comparison with the
human genome will also teach us a great deal about ourselves.

"The major accomplishment is that we now have a catalogue of the genetic
differences between humans and chimps," says lead author, Tarjei Mikkelsen
of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.

In keeping with previous studies comparing much smaller portions of the
chimp and human genomes, the new comparison shows incredible similarity
between the genomes. The average number of protein-changing mutations per
gene is just two, and 29% of human genes are absolutely identical. What is
more, only a handful of genes present in humans are absent or partially
deleted in chimps.

Full Text at NewScientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7930

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek