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Disinterested · Sep 14, 2005, 08:55 am

http://www.economist.com/printeditio...ory_ID=4342312

The genome of the chimpanzee—mankind's closest living relative—has been sequenced. Comparing it with Man's should help people understand themselves

KARL VON LINNÉ (or Linnaeus, as he is widely known) was a Swedish biologist who devised the system of Latinised scientific names for living things that biologists use to this day. When he came to slot people into his system, he put them into a group called Homo—and Linné's hairless fellow humans are still known biologically as Homo sapiens. But the group originally had a second member, Homo troglodytes. It lived in Africa, and the pictures show it to be covered with hair.

Modern taxonomists are not as generous as Linné in welcoming other species into Man's lofty dominion, and the chimpanzee is now referred to as Pan troglodytes. But Pan or Homo, there is no doubt that chimps are humans' nearest living relatives, and that if the secrets of what makes humanity special are ever to be disentangled, understanding why chimps are not people, nor people chimps, is a crucial part of the process. That, in turn, means looking at the DNA of the two species, for it is here that the differences must originate.

Sep 14, 2005, 08:55 am	#1 (permalink) (top)
Disinterested Go Speed Racer Location: In my mind Posts: 361	Sisters under the skin http://www.economist.com/printeditio...ory_ID=4342312 The genome of the chimpanzee—mankind's closest living relative—has been sequenced. Comparing it with Man's should help people understand themselves KARL VON LINNÉ (or Linnaeus, as he is widely known) was a Swedish biologist who devised the system of Latinised scientific names for living things that biologists use to this day. When he came to slot people into his system, he put them into a group called Homo—and Linné's hairless fellow humans are still known biologically as Homo sapiens. But the group originally had a second member, Homo troglodytes. It lived in Africa, and the pictures show it to be covered with hair. Modern taxonomists are not as generous as Linné in welcoming other species into Man's lofty dominion, and the chimpanzee is now referred to as Pan troglodytes. But Pan or Homo, there is no doubt that chimps are humans' nearest living relatives, and that if the secrets of what makes humanity special are ever to be disentangled, understanding why chimps are not people, nor people chimps, is a crucial part of the process. That, in turn, means looking at the DNA of the two species, for it is here that the differences must originate.