Visual Capitalist September 7, 2021
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...
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