Scientists sequenced macaque genome

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the relatively ancient rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), providing perspective into how humans are genetically different from our primate relatives. Coming only two years after the sequencing of the chimpanzee genome, the feat, reported today in the journal Science, provides new insight into what makes humans human. Geneticist Richard A. Gibbs said, It allows us to learn what has been added or deleted in primate evolution from the rhesus macaque to the chimpanzee to the human. Comparing our genome with the genome of other organisms is crucial to identifying what makes the human genome unique, added Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which sponsored the project. The macaque genome joins a growing list that now includes not only humans and chimps, but also mouse, rat, dog, cow, honeybee, sea urchin, roundworm and yeast genomes. The scientists have found that