Comparing Genomes Shows Split Between Chimps and People

NY Times ^ | December 12, 2003 | NICHOLAS WADE

[Doc Savage]

Don't you EVER compare me to AL Sharpton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[general_re]

What's a factor of ten among friends? ;)

[kennedy]

Imagine it, a world with chimps and humans living and working side-by-side.

[Pharmboy]

Oooooooooo...pretty nasty; A mean-*ss Gombe chimp has better ethics than the Reverend Al. If chimps could read, they'd be pretty pissed at you, I'm sure.

[Doctor Stochastic]

More like a 32767th cousin,6561 times removed.

[Renfield]

Has anyone yet determined when Chimps split off from Democrats?

[ASA Vet]

a partial list of the genes that make people human.

Have they identified the one that made people invent and then believe in the supernatural?

[searchandrecovery]

I know for a fact that your pictures are fake - one shows a man in a chimp suit... .

[ASA Vet]

Has anyone yet determined when Chimps split off from Democrats?

Chimps would be offended by your assertion.

[anguish]

Has anyone yet determined when Chimps split off from Democrats?

They out-evolved democrats some 3 billion years ago.

[Blueflag]

DOH! (should have read your screen name, eh?)

Like I said - did not mean to patronize.

If it were really easy to translate the genome, the Pharma industry would have thousands of new targets and leads, and a full pipeline of both blockbuster and targeted treatment solutions in Phase 1.

A fascinating subject. I just think it is poorly presented to the general public when the chimp genome is represented as nearly human.

I do enjoy the serious discourse on the matter.

[Blueflag]

general_re: truth is, it's an anecdotal figure from prior reading on the matter. I ought to state that. The chimp genome is not a fully mapped as the human genome, and there's some fancy my-theory-is-better-than-yours work done to reconcile differences between human and chimp chromosomes, haplotypes and so on.

I will be careful to state "I understand to be a 12% difference" as opposed to presenting it as scientific fact.

Nothing like FR to catch you with your 'facts' exposed. Good peer review, eh?

[Blueflag]

Just saw your side by side. LOL!!!

That is too scary .... especially since the ape is prettier ;-)

[ZULU]

"Genes involved in recycling amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, have changed in the human line, the Science article reports. Those could reflect changes in diet when humanlike descendants of the mostly fruit-eating ancestor switched to meat."

Ergo, vegans are subhuman. Their meat-free diet adversely affects their humanity, leading to confusion about the distinctions between people and animals.

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

This gene therapy will certainly be the nightmare of this upcoming century.

Gene therapy gone wild!

[PatrickHenry]

I just think it is poorly presented to the general public when the chimp genome is represented as nearly human.

I don't think anyone believes that chimps are "nearly human," regardless of the percentage of genetic material we have in common. I don't think the PETA people can go very far just citing percentages. It's that different 1% which makes us human, and without it the chimps just don't qualify.

Besides, when it comes to being human, genetics is only part of the story. Hillary and Margaret Thatcher both have 100% human genetic material. Yet Hillary isn't even "barely human."

[Consort]

...They also discovered the liberal gene.

[HamiltonJay]

There is a HUGE difference in 2% of any large system.... for example, a HIGH END Sereo reciever vs a $49 boom box may have 98% identical components... but those 2% that are different cause the price to be 10 times more and produce music quality that the $49 dollar job could never accomplish.

A production crotch rocket can reach 140 MPH... while the professional racers reach 170MPH... that 30 extra MPH equates to $100,000 or more to produce vs the 7-10k for the production bike....

The reality is, a human is not a chimp, and a chimp is not a human... and while our DNA may share a LOT in terms of volume, they are basically admitting that 2% that is different makes far more than a 2% difference to the outcome.

[searchandrecovery]

Gene therapy gone wild!

Walk on two legs, that is the law.

[mikegi]

The reality is, a human is not a chimp, and a chimp is not a human... and while our DNA may share a LOT in terms of volume, they are basically admitting that 2% that is different makes far more than a 2% difference to the outcome.

Exactly. Humans and chimps and other mammals share a lot of things that have to be encoded in the genes: hearts, lungs, skin, brains, skeletons, embryo development, basic biochemical processing, etc. It's not the size of the genetic difference that matters, it's what you do with it!