Do Humans & Cows really share DNA?
Closer than you'd think...
Merrick knows what he's talking about.
Every cell in the body of every living organism contains deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Research shows that 99.9 percent of the genetic information in DNA is common to all human beings. The remaining 0.01 percent is responsible for differences in hair, eye and skin color, height and propensity to certain diseases.
Scientists believe that all life evolved from a common ancestor, which means that humans also share DNA sequencing with all other living organisms. Humans share DNA with creatures closer in the evolutionary line and with common ancestors to a greater extent than with those further removed.
Humans share more than 50 percent of their genetic information with plants and animals in general. They share about 80 percent with cows, 61 percent with bugs such as fruit flies. You'll even find human DNA in a banana – about 60 percent!
Humans are genetically closest to chimpanzees and bonobos--a smaller relative of chimps--sharing almost 99% of genes, as Science reported in 2012. Gorillas are next with 98% of genes similar to humans.
Humans share DNA with thousands of living things, from bananas to worms to yeast. This is because all plants, animals and fungi evolved from a common ancestor more than 1.5 billion years ago.
So, humans share 24% of their genes with grapes, 24% with rice, 38% with roundworms and 44% with honey bees.
Genetic similarities are overshadowed by the instruction genes received to diverge into different types of living things. Humans and chimpanzees may share 99% of their genomes--their collective genetic blueprint--but that 1% difference is the key.
From a scientific perspective, the key is to understand how genes code for humans, chimpanzees or cows. That is something science has yet to understand...
Just don't ask how to make Merrick's anti-cow juice.
Source: Science, 2012; Science, 2009; Seattle Pi; Genome Research; National Geographic Article credits: Sciencing.com, FactChecker.in