The DNA Divide: Chimps, people differ in brain’s gene activity
By Bruce Bower
People and chimpanzees are almost identical when it comes to their DNA sequences, a sure sign of close evolutionary ties. A new study suggests that the distinctive looks and thinking styles of these two primate groups derive from the contrasting productivities of their similar DNA sequences.
The same genes that unleash a cascade of messenger molecules and proteins in human brain tissue yield a relatively modest flow of the same substances in chimp brains, says geneticist Svante Paäbo of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.