Humans and Gorillas Are the Closest Relatives    [23-03-2012] Evolution and creationism have long been disputed. Some creationists refuse to believe that human beings and chimps shared the same ancestor. But on a scientific standpoint, there is no doubt that evolution is a very probable theory. Science has proven that our DNA is very similar to that of chimpanzees. Humans and chimps belong on the same evolutionary family tree and are considered “relatives.” A new finding has supported the theory of evolution even further. Scientists have found that gorillas also have similar genes to humans. This finding offers the conclusion that humans are more similar to gorillas than they are to chimps. Researchers in Britain examined the DNA of gorillas and compared it to the genomes of humans and chimps. They found that 15 percent of the human genome is closer to the gorilla genome than it is to the chimp. Likewise, 15 percent of the chimp genome is closer to the gorilla genome than it is to the human. “Our most significant findings reveal differences between the species reflecting millions of years of evolutionary divergence,” said Chris Tyler-Smith one of the institute’s researchers. The ultimate goal of the study is to gain a full understanding of how humans evolved and developed important traits, like higher brain function and the ability to walk upright. The analysis of the species also found variations in the genes of gorillas that pose no danger to their health.But these same genes are linked to dementia and heart failure in people. Tyler-Smith also saw a genetic parallel between humans and gorillas in the evolution of hearing. According to him, the hearing genes in both species evolved at a similar rate.     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)