davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison) (06/12/91)
In article <676362297.46@egsgate.FidoNet.Org> Vincent.A.Mazzarella@f98.n250.z1.FidoNet.Org (Vincent A Mazzarella) writes:
But, of course, genomes of every human is quite different from every other
human. What matters are those differences causing a change in phenotype.
Waitaminnithere. "Quite?" Less than < 1% is quite? Please define
what you mean. The chimp-human sequence divergence is about 1%, which
I can't see a "quite different" by any stretch of the imagination.
dan davison
davison@uh.edu
--
dr. dan davison/dept. of biochemical and biophysical sciences/univ. of
Houston/4800 Calhoun/Houston,TX 77204-5934/davison@uh.edu/DAVISON@UHOU
Disclaimer: As always, I speak only for myself, and, usually, only to
myself.stodola@orion.fccc.edu (Robert K. Stodola) (06/12/91)
In article <1991Jun12.033532.3222@menudo.uh.edu> davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison) writes: >In article <676362297.46@egsgate.FidoNet.Org> Vincent.A.Mazzarella@f98.n250.z1.FidoNet.Org (Vincent A Mazzarella) writes: > > But, of course, genomes of every human is quite different from every other > human. What matters are those differences causing a change in phenotype. > >Waitaminnithere. "Quite?" Less than < 1% is quite? Please define >what you mean. The chimp-human sequence divergence is about 1%, which >I can't see a "quite different" by any stretch of the imagination. > Don't know much about primate genetics (or any other, for that matter), but I gather all mammals have approximately the same amount of DNA, and many pieces are common. In many species, however, they are mixed up on a different numbers of chromosomes. This would seem to interfere with the normal mating process...
kliman@mbcl.rutgers.edu (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.033532.3222@menudo.uh.edu>, davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison) writes: > In article <676362297.46@egsgate.FidoNet.Org> Vincent.A.Mazzarella@f98.n250.z1.FidoNet.Org (Vincent A Mazzarella) writes: > > But, of course, genomes of every human is quite different from every other > human. What matters are those differences causing a change in phenotype. > > Waitaminnithere. "Quite?" Less than < 1% is quite? Please define > what you mean. The chimp-human sequence divergence is about 1%, which > I can't see a "quite different" by any stretch of the imagination. From a genetic standpoint, it seems to me that 1% sequence divergence is quite substantial. That would supply, on average, 1 change for every 33 codons. Of course, many of those changes would be silent (or effectively neutral, given the similarity of many amino acids coded for by similar codons). However, some amino acid substitutions can have major phenotypic effects. If we use 50,000 as the number of genes in humans (Science 252:1255), and figure that most will differ in amino acid sequence when compared to those of chimps, we shouldn't be surprised by the degree of phenotypic divergence observed. - Rich Kliman
davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.132215.20792@fccc.edu> stodola@orion.fccc.edu (Robert K. Stodola) writes: [comments about humans having very different chromosomes from each other, followed by a request for defintion of 'different' Don't know much about primate genetics (or any other, for that matter), but I gather all mammals have approximately the same amount of DNA, and many pieces are common. In many species, however, they are mixed up on a different numbers of chromosomes. This would seem to interfere with the normal mating process... Oh. No, it doesn't interfere with the "normal mating process", it interfers with mitosis during cell divison. What the poster originally said: > But, of course, genomes of every human is quite different from > every other human. By your definition above humans would not be able to mate, which, while beneficial for the rest of the biosphere, would be a major bummer for most humans. Nonetheless, by no means are the genomes of every human quite different. There is a semi-mythical story about pathologists being asked to look at a panel of chromosomes from gorilla and human, with the obvious ringers removed. All shown the chromosomes could not tell the human from the gorilla. dan -- dr. dan davison/dept. of biochemical and biophysical sciences/univ. of Houston/4800 Calhoun/Houston,TX 77204-5934/davison@uh.edu/DAVISON@UHOU Disclaimer: As always, I speak only for myself, and, usually, only to myself.