by Playfuls Staff |
20th December 2006
A U.S. study suggests the genetic differences between chimpanzees and humans might be much more substantial than [more] has been thought.
Scientists at Indiana University-Bloomington have determined approximately 6 percent of human and chimp genes are unique to each species, taking into account a fact other genetic studies do not -- the genes that aren't there.
Indiana University computational biologist Matthew Hahn, who led the study with researcher Jeffery Demuth, said the study does not dispute the commonly reported 1.5 percent nucleotide-by-nucleotide difference between humans and chimps.
"Both estimates are correct in their own way," Hahn said. "It depends on what you're asking. There isn't a single, standard estimate of variation that incorporates all the ways humans, chimps and other animals can be genetically different from each other."
The scientists also surveyed gene families common to both humans and chimps and observed in the human genome a significant increase in the duplication of genes that influence brain functions.
That, said Hahn, suggests duplication and loss of genes plays a bigger role in human evolution than changes within single genes.
The study appears in the inaugural issue of Public Library of Science ONE.
© 2006 UPI
