The genome of the Planet of the Apes - The Vanguard

have more than 7,000 million people, the human species has a lack of genetic diversity surprising.

This is demonstrated by comparing the genomes of 83 individuals of large species of primates . While chimpanzees are noted for their complex evolutionary history and genetic wealth, “humans have had a simpler story and are genetically poorer,” says Tomas Marques Bonet, ICREA researcher at the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC) and director the project.

The research, which involved 36 scientific institutions from nine countries for the first time provides a comprehensive catalog of genetic diversity in populations of great apes. Their results, presented on line in Nature , allow to reconstruct and compare the evolutionary history of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans. By clarifying how they differ among different populations of the same species also provide valuable data ahead of the conservation of great apes threatened with extinction.

“The thing that surprised us is the disparity between wealth genetics of chimpanzees and human poverty, did not expect there was much difference, “says Marques Bonet.

So, chimpanzees have had a busy history, a catastrophe population of unknown causes two million years ago, a resurgence back and a new decline started just over 100,000 years to coincide with the expansion of Homo sapiens. At present, the research concludes, the four described subspecies of chimpanzees are grouped into two genetic populations: those in West Africa on the one hand (which encompass all located further west Cameroon) and Central and Eastern Africa by another (which encompass some of Cameroon and further south and the east),

Humans, however, have had a more bland evolutionary history. We had low genetic diversity from the origin of the genus Homo two million years ago. We went through a bottleneck about 200,000 years ago with the emergence of our species-a bottleneck in evolutionary biology, is a population of few individuals from which a larger population expands. And we staged a very rapid expansion since the origin of agriculture, which has contributed to an increase in numbers of the population but just has contributed more genetic diversity.

At present, reports Marques Bonet, would suffice population of 15,000 people to rebuild the entire human genetic diversity. With chimpanzees, would require 30,000 to 50,000 individuals for reconstructing the diversity of species.

This is because of the genomes of two different persons are very similar between them, while the two chimpanzees have more differences. “Compared to other species, humans are very much alike with us,” s ays Marques Bonet.

Looking for primate conservation, research identifies for the first time genetically different populations of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. So when they seize an animal victim of illegal trade, you can know which region comes, something that until now was impossible. For zoos, this information may be useful for breeding programs, which can be adapted to the genetic diversity of different populations of primates.