Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
What Makes us Human? Compare Chimp And Human DNA.
Round up article mainly about the work of Katie Pollard of UCSF to compare, piece-meal, the genomes of chimps and humans to discover any differences in nucleotide sequence - be they inside known genes, or in areas of the genomes previously regarded as "junk" or non-coding DNA. Nothing new - her research on highly accelerated regions of non-coding DNA is reported on in the book.
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