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Science 4 September 1998:
Vol. 281. no. 5382, pp. 1432 - 1434
DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5382.1432
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News Focus

COMPARATIVE GENETICS:
Which of Our Genes Make Us Human?

Ann Gibbons

For decades scientists have known that at least 98% of human DNA is identical to that of chimpanzees, but no one has been able to tie the few known molecular variations with chimp-human differences, such as body hair, language, or brain size. Geneticists and evolutionary biologists are now beginning to explore which genes separate us from the apes, and next month, a research team will report finding the first significant biochemical variation between humans and other apes: Humans lack a particular form of a ubiquitous cell surface molecule found in all other apes. Other teams are reporting newfound differences in the arrangements of DNA on the chromosomes of humans and other primates, and new sequencing projects are starting to compare primate and human DNA base by base (see sidebar).

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Origination and evolution of a human-specific transmembrane protein gene, c1orf37-dup.
H. Yu, H. Jiang, Q. Zhou, J. Yang, Y. Cun, B. Su, C. Xiao, and W. Wang (2006)
Hum. Mol. Genet. 15, 1870-1875
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Accelerated Protein Evolution and Origins of Human-Specific Features: FOXP2 as an Example.
J. Zhang, D. M. Webb, and O. Podlaha (2002)
Genetics 162, 1825-1835
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Alu-mediated inactivation of the human CMP- N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase gene.
T. Hayakawa, Y. Satta, P. Gagneux, A. Varki, and N. Takahata (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DNA Patents and Human Dignity.
D. B. Resnik (2001)
J. Law Med. Ethics 29, 152-165
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DNA Patents and Human Dignity.
D. B. Resnik (2001)
J. Law Med. Ethics 29, 152-165
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Human-mouse differences in the embryonic expression patterns of developmental control genes and disease genes.
F. Fougerousse, P. Bullen, M. Herasse, S. Lindsay, I. Richard, D. Wilson, L. Suel, M. Durand, S. Robson, M. Abitbol, et al. (2000)
Hum. Mol. Genet. 9, 165-173
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The Promise of Comparative Genomics in Mammals.
S. J. O'Brien, M. Menotti-Raymond, W. J. Murphy, W. G. Nash, J. Wienberg, R. Stanyon, N. G. Copeland, N. A. Jenkins, J. E. Womack, and J. A. Marshall Graves (1999)
Science 286, 458-481
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Alu-mediated inactivation of the human CMP- N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase gene.
T. Hayakawa, Y. Satta, P. Gagneux, A. Varki, and N. Takahata (2001)
PNAS 98, 11399-11404
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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