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Researchers unravel DNA of another primate

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - Scientists have unraveled the DNA of another of our primate relatives, this time a monkey named the rhesus macaque - and the work has far more immediate impact than just to study evolution.

These animals are key to testing the safety of many medicines and understanding such diseases as AIDS, and new research will help scientists finally be sure when they're a good stand-in for humans.

"The thing we're all fascinated with is what makes us different from these animals who are so close to us," said Dr. Richard Gibbs of the Baylor College of Medicine, who led a team of more than 170 scientists on the project.

In today's edition of the journal Science, the researchers report deciphering the macaque's DNA and comparing it to the genetic blueprints of humans and our closest living relatives, chimpanzees.

Among the most intriguing discoveries so far: a list of diseases where the same genetic mutation that makes people ill seems normal for the macaques.

"That is really quite a stunner," said Dr. Francis Collins, genetics chief at the National Institutes of Health, which funded the research. "It gives you a glimmer of how subtle changes in DNA cause big trouble."

The rhesus macaque is the third primate genome to be completed.

Not surprisingly, the DNA of humans, chimps and macaques is highly similar. Humans and chimps have evolved separately since splitting from a common ancestor about 6-million years ago, but still have almost 99 percent of their gene sequences in common.

Macaques branched off from the ape family tree far earlier, about 25-million years ago - yet still share about 93 percent of their DNA with humans, the new work shows.

[Last modified April 13, 2007, 01:31:28]