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12 - The Source of Similarity

Chimpanzee Genetics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2020

Kevin D. Hunt
Kevin D. Hunt
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
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Summary

With the possible exception of natural selection, the discovery of DNA and its function must be the greatest breakthrough in the biological sciences. Genetics is increasingly a part of all our lives as DNA sequencing allows more targeted medical interventions and as we anticipate gene therapy permanently eliminating some genetic diseases. Bringing it closer to home, some diseases are the result of the afflicted person possessing a chimpanzee version of a gene. Humans and chimpanzees differ because their DNA differs. We have known the basics for over half a century, and now at last we can point to specific genes when we discuss human/chimpanzee differences. While your grandparents can probably remember the very first time they heard the term “deoxyribonucleic acid” and puzzled over the mysterious workings of this newly discovered molecule, you probably learned that a gene is a length of DNA that codes for a specific protein before you got out of primary school. How long before we have a short list of the genes that make us human, rather than chimpanzee?

Type
Chapter
Information
Chimpanzee
Lessons from our Sister Species
 , pp. 217 - 241
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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