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Chimp's gene map highlights human link

Tim Radford

New light on man's evolutionary path

LONDON: Humans and chimpanzees share ``perfect identity'' in 96 per cent of their DNA sequence, an international team of scientists reports on Thursday.

Their findings, a landmark in the scientific study of humans and great apes, are drawn from the completion of the full genome sequence of a chimpanzee.

Clint, a 24-year-old male who died of heart failure last year at a research centre in Atlanta, Georgia, now lives on in the world's databases as the fourth mammal — after humans, mice and rats — to yield a full genetic blueprint.

The research findings could offer a new way of understanding human biology, and underline once again the close kinship between Pan troglodytes, the larger species of chimpanzee, and Homo sapiens [humans].

It also throws new light on the tiny differences that set humankind on a different evolutionary path. ``As our closest living evolutionary relatives, chimpanzees are especially suited to teach us about ourselves,'' said Robert Waterston of the University of Washington in Seattle, a leading member of the research team.

``We still do not have in our hands the answer to a most fundamental question: what makes us human? But this genomic comparison dramatically narrows the search for the key biological differences between the species.''

Comparison between human and ape DNA reveals that some human and ape genes evolved very swiftly, especially those linked to the perception of sound and the transmission of nerve signals.

It shows a pattern of genetic mutations that could enable each to make unique adaptations to the environment. It highlights a pattern of rapid change in a small number of human genes about 250,000 years ago — when Homo sapiens is supposed to have emerged in Africa. Chimpanzees and humans shared a common ancestor six million years ago. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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