Scientists Complete Genetic Map of the Chimpanzee - WP

"Scientists said yesterday that they have determined the precise order of the 3 billion bits of genetic code that carry the instructions for making a chimpanzee, humankind's closest cousin."

"By placing the two codes alongside each other, scientists identified all 40 million molecular changes that today separate the two species and pinpointed the mere 250,000 that seem most responsible for the difference between chimpness and humanness."

What really makes us human? Why are humans seemly so different than our animal cousins? Or perhaps the question should be are we really all that different?

"On a practical level, researchers said, the work is likely to explain why chimps are resistant to several human diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, malaria and Alzheimer's disease -- information that could lead to new ways to prevent or treat many human ills."

Sometimes our inventiveness amazes me, unfortunately it is usually close to a time when our greed sickens me...

Science