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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1: Chimp Genetic Sequence Drafted

This week, a group of scientists announced that they have succeeded in mapping the genetic sequence of our closest animal relatives, chimpanzees, and researchers believe that a comparison of human and chimp DNA may help us figure out what makes people so different from other animals.

Scientists have long known that people and chimps are very closely genetically related--in fact, human and chimp DNA is over 99% identical! Now that the genetic sequences of chimps and humans are known, scientists can look at the areas that vary, and perhaps eventually figure out exactly what separates us from our ape cousins.

Right now, even though scientists know what the two genetic sequences look like, they don't yet know what each and every chimp or human gene does. But they have already been able to compare certain genes with functions they do understand, and have discovered interesting differences.

Apparently, the genes that are involved in hearing and smell diverge for people and chimps. That could tell us a lot about our own evolution. For instance, some researchers have discovered that the human genes for hearing are not like chimp genes for hearing, which already has people speculating about whether that has something to do with the development of human language (while other animals can communicate in different ways, so far people are the only animals that have managed to develop complex languages). And smell genes in people seem to be dying out, which may be a result of the fact that smell isn't as important to human survival as it is to chimps and other animals.

It will be a while before scientists will be able to pinpoint everything that makes us distinct from our nearest relatives, since there is so much we still do not know about our own DNA, but they are off to an exciting start.

--Written by Nia Williams

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2: Fossil Record Gaps Filling