Written by Michael Kinnaird, PhD

Jul 01, 2004 at 12:00 AM

Many readers will probably have heard that the chimpanzee genome (complete set of DNA, repository for genetic information) is very similar to ours. Numbers as high as "99.5% the same" have been bandied about. However, a recent article indicates that although there is a lot of similarity, there are some crucial differences (of course).

A recent article in Science News (June 12, 2004 Vol. 165, p. 382) opens with the statement that "Genetic differences between chimpanzees and people are more complicated than scientists had previously suspected..." Previously, some rather crude methods had been used to try to determine the amount of matching DNA. This is where the percent similarity numbers came from. As we had suspected, when the details were looked at, the situation was more complex. A group of researchers in Tokyo compared actual genes between the two species. Although they reported only a 1.44% difference in actual sequence, they found 47 differences in specific genes out of 231 genes studied, for a difference in 20% of the genes studied. As reported, "[p]reliminary evidence indicates that these modifications frequently alter the types and activities of proteins manufactured by genes." In other words, although the 20% of the genes studied seemed similar, in actual fact the proteins made by carrying out the instructions inherent in the DNA were different in both type and activity. So much for being "99.5% the same".

It should be a cautionary tale to evolutionists, who like to spin "just so" stories on limited data, to try to bolster their argument, and especially to bash creationists. Even the reported 20% of the genes that were actually different were "spun" to be caused by insertions and deletions. This is not known, but the result of evolutionary assumptions. A common Designer for the genes is at least as good an explanation for the data. In this author's humble opinion, those who bashed creationists by using the "99.5% similarity" argument have egg all over their faces. When it looks like the argument is going against us, we should remember to adopt a "wait and see" attitude.  Eventually, the Bible will be proved correct!