A comparison of the chimp and human genomes casts new light on why the two species are so different despite having very similar genetic code. Scientists have long speculated over what makes humans so different from their closest relatives, the apes. One of the leading scientists on the project says the answer lies in the process that orchestrates the genes as the chimpanzee is developing. The human and chimpanzee genomes differ by just 1.2% between the coding genes. Professor Svante Paabo, from the Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany, is investigating which genes are present and the manner in which they are expressed.
