Gorilla DNA offers clues about humans too

A team of more than 60 researchers has decoded the DNA of a western lowland gorilla, which will help our understanding of human origins and may aid gorilla conservation efforts.

By Eryn Brown,
Los Angeles Times
10:05 PM PST, March 7, 2012

Scientists have decoded the DNA of the western lowland gorilla, a feat that could boost conservation efforts for the endangered apes as well as broaden researchers' understanding of human origins.

The complete sequence of 20,962 genes — extracted from the skin cells of Kamilah, a 34-year-old gorilla who lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park — was compiled by an international team of more than 60 researchers who worked on the project for about five years.

"The gorilla genome is important because gorillas are our second-closest living relatives," said Richard Durbin, senior author of a paper about the discovery published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

By comparing the new gorilla DNA sequence with reference genomes of humans, chimpanzees, orangutans and macaques, scientists have already made a few surprising insights into the crucial periods when we diverged into separate species.

(More here.)