anders
Faculty and Staff
Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 34
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:58 pm Post subject: Chimpanzee genome sequenced |
 |
|
 In 1871, Charles Darwin proposed that the great apes, including the chimpanzee, are human's closest relatives. Now the newly sequenced chimpanzee genome allows us to see precisely the genetic differences acquired by the two species in the last 6 million years. “Reading these two genomes side by side, it's amazing to see the evolutionary changes that are occurring. I can’t imagine Darwin hoping for stronger confirmation of his ideas than what we see when we compare the human and the chimp genome,” said Bob Waterston, whose University of Washington team worked on the chimpanzeee genome project.
MOre text.
| The Boston Globe wrote: | What sets us apart from apes? At latest count, about four percent of our DNA.
Scientists announced Wednesday that they had completed analysis of the genome of a chimpanzee, humanity’s closest genetic relative, and found that the gap between humans and chimps is about 10 times smaller than the one between rats and mice.
“The philosophical goal is that we all want to know what makes us human,” said researcher Tarjei S. Mikkelsen of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, which helped sequence the chimp genome. “The pragmatic goal is that it will help us understand diseases and conditions that are unique to humans.” |
Read the Globe article (in the MIT Tech) and see the full details in Nature.
 MIT Tech
Nature |
|
