>I often hear that a given primate species (say, chimpanzees) are 98% or 99%
identical to human wrt the genome.
>
>Is this literally true? What, exactly, is the claim being made here? How
do they know without sequencing the whole thing? By "identical" do they
just mean "similar" or compatible or something more vague like that, or do
they mean base-pair-for-base-pair identical?
>
>And how identical are two randomly selected humans? (I've heard informally
over 99.6%) or two siblings?
>
>If you know a better question that I would be asking if I knew more about
it, feel free to answer that one instead or (preferably) in addition.
I only recently heard the claim that humans and chimps share 90-something%
genomic identity. I heard this from Prof. R.J. (Sam) Berry, a Christian
geneticist from the Univ. of London, during a talk he gave on this campus
entitled, "Developing a Christian Mind". As I recall, the number comes from
someone at UCLA who proposes that humans and chimps should be considered
part of the same genus (Homo) but different species. Currently, chimps
belong to a different genus (Pan).
Unfortunately, I do not know how such an estimation of genetic relatedness
was made. The same questions John raised above, I also have. The problem,
I beleive, lies in what is meant by "identity".
I wonder if Tim Ikeda would have more information on this point, but I think
that he no longer participates here.
Shalom,
Steve
__________________________________________________________________________
Steven S. Clark, Ph.D. Phone: (608) 263-9137
Associate Professor FAX: (608) 263-4226
Dept. of Human Oncology and email: ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu
UW Comprehensive Cancer Ctr
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53792
"...a university is a collection of disparate academic entrepreneurs united
only by a common grievance over parking." Clark Kerr, former Chancellor
of the Univ. of California
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