Genes that seem to have no purpose and are similar in humans and chimps
For almost 30 years, researchers have asserted that the DNA of humans and chimps is at least 98.5% identical. Now research reported here last week at the American Society for Human Genetics meeting suggests that the two primate genomes might not be quite as similar after all. A closer look has uncovered nips and tucks in homologous sections of DNA that weren’t noticed in previous studies.See also our Sept. 23 headline on this subject. Pennisi says that neither team would commit to a new value for the difference, but “both agree that the previously accepted 98.5% mark is too high.”The results are quite exciting, says Michael Conneally, a human geneticist at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. With this research, “we can really find out so much more about evolution,” he predicts.
It will be interesting to see what facts come to light when the chimpanzee genome is sequenced and laid side by side with the human genome. There are two lessons learned here. One is Thumb’s Second Postulate, that an easily-understood, workable falsehood is more useful than a highly complex, incomprehensible truth. Useful to whom? A propagandist. We have heard evolutionists for years using this 98.5% figure as proof that humans are almost identical to apes, the implication being we are closely evolved cousins. How do we undo 30 years of “useful” damage? The second is that evolutionists will spin any fact to their advantage. Are humans 98.% similar to chimpanzees? Well, this proves we are evolved from apes. Are humans 5%, 10%, or 20% different than chimpanzees? (exact figure to be determined). Wonderful; now “we can really find out so much more about evolution”.
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