of Mice ...
All living things on Earth have something in common.
Four basic elements - A, T, C, and G - make up our genes.
The diversity of our planet's living organisms comes
from countless different combinations of these four
basic elements.
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![10) Photo: Mouse.](/web/20071115143305im_/http://www.nature.ca/genome/images/popup/03a-28_min.jpg) |
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Mouse.
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The similarity between humans and other living things
is especially strong when we look in detail at the genetic
makeup of organisms such as the mouse, with which we
share a common mammalian ancestor. For these species,
both the number of genes and the way in which they are
combined are very similar to ours.
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![11) X-ray: Skulls of a chimpanzee and a human.](/web/20071115143305im_/http://www.nature.ca/genome/images/popup/03a-29_min.jpg) |
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Coloured
X-ray of the skulls of a chimpanzee and a human.
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Ever thought that a chimpanzee seemed almost human?
The closer the relationship between different species,
the greater the similarity between their genes. In fact,
the genetic makeup of a human is over 98 per cent the
same as that of a pygmy chimpanzee.
What about living things that do not appear to be at
all alike? Almost ten per cent of human genes are related
to certain genes in creatures like flies and worms.
So, we even share some of our genetic makeup with unlikely
relatives.
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