How Genetically Similar Are We To Other Life Forms?

Visual Capitalist September 7, 2021
Carmen Ang

The Briefing

Chimps are 98.8% genetically similar, making them one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom
The genetic similarity between humans and fruit flies is 60%

Comparing Human Genetic Similarity to Other Life Forms

Of the three billion genetic building blocks that make us living things, only a handful are uniquely ours. In fact, despite our differences on the outside, humans are 99.9% genetically similar to one another.

But how alike are we to other, non-human life forms? Turns out, we’re a lot more similar than you might think.

Comparative Genomics 101

First, how do scientists compare the genetic makeup of various life forms?

Comparative genomics is a branch of biology that compares genome sequences...