NP

[Tyrone Slothrop]

The Chicago Tribune published a front page story a of
days ago summarizing the results
of the race to map the human genome.

Some of the surprising and humbling facts:

   The human genome contains about 30,000 genes, not
the over 100,000 genes
scientists once thought it was composed of.

   Every human shares 99.9% of their genetic code with
every other human, only
.1% of our genetic code is unique to us as
individuals.  That's about 30 genes
out of the 30,000.

   We share 99% of our genes with chimpanzees.

   Some 233 of our genes are nearly identical with
those of bacteria.

   The male Y chromosome mutates twice as frequently
as the female X chromosome,
so men are responsible for two thirds of genetically
transmitted diseases, but
also are responsible for two thirds of human
evolution.

Very interesting stuff.


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