A second look at the gorilla genome shows just how similar we are [View all]

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Source: Washington Post

A second look at the gorilla genome shows just how similar we are

By Rachel Feltman April 1 at 11:39 AM

A gorilla named Sue, formerly of the Lincoln Park Zoo, is showing scientists just how similar her species is to our own. In a study published Thursday in Science, researchers presented a new, more complete genome sequence for the animal based on her blood sample.

Gorillas are some of our closest relatives, edged out only by chimpanzees and bonobos. This latest genome sequence confirms that just 1.6 percent of their genes diverge from our own. For reference, chimps and bonobos tie for 1.2 percent divergence, and after gorillas there's a sharp drop-off to 3.1 percent in orangutans — great apes with Asian instead of African origins. The genomes of individual humans differ from one another by around 0.1 percent.

Because gorillas are so close to us on the family tree, their genomes are especially valuable to study. "The differences between species may aid researchers in identifying regions of the human genome that are associated with higher cognition, complex language, behavior and neurological diseases," study author Christopher Hill of the University of Washington told Reuters.

Last year, for example, scientists at Duke University pinpointed a gene regulator — a gene that tells other genes how strongly to present themselves and when — that makes human brains grow big. They found it by tracking the differences between human and chimpanzee genomes in areas related to brain development.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/04/01/a-second-look-at-the-gorilla-genome-shows-just-how-similar-we-are/