Sequencing the chimp genome

US scientists led by a team from the University of California, San Diego, and the Salk Institute are hoping to sequence the chimpanzee genome in an effort to understand why humans and not chimps are affected by certain diseases. In a letter to the journal Science, an interdisciplinary group including geneticists, anthropologists and molecular evolutionists have called for an international effort to decode the genome of the chimpanzee.
The chimp shares approximately 98 per cent of genetic information with humans. It is hoped that by sequencing the chimp genome, more can be understood about the differences between the two species, and eventually what makes humans susceptible to certain diseases, such as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) and Alzheimer's, that chimpanzees are not affected by. Some other diseases that kill humans in great numbers have little impact on chimpanzees and the information on the reason why this is may help scientists to develop new treatments for such diseases, including cancer and malaria.

The scientists believe that identifying the differences in the DNA of chimps and humans should solve the mystery of what makes humans unique. Genes for cognition, reproductive biology and behaviour are specifically being targeted. Edwin McConkey, a molecular biologist from the University of Colorado, said that 'until we understand how we differ genetically from our nearest relatives the apes, we won't understand the genetic basis for being human'.

Others have questioned the value of such a study. The director of the Roslin institute, Professor Grahame Bulfield, has said 'The mere fact that there are only one or two percent genetic differences between chimps and human beings still means that they are going to differ in many thousands of DNA sequences'. He went on to say that discovering what makes the difference in relation to disease would be a 'very difficult problem'.