What makes humans human? a review of important genetic differences between chimpanzees and humans

Abstract

What makes humans human?  Genomic comparisons of humans and chimpanzees provide a new tool for addressing this interesting question.  Genetic comparisons show remarkable similarity between chimpanzees and humans; indeed, the human and chimp genome are 96% similar, with only a 1% difference in nucleotide substitutions and a 3% difference in chromosomal insertions and deletions.  But even modest differences in genomes can have profound biological effects.  In this review, we tackle this formidable topic by summarizing the effects of transposon mobility, uniquely human genes and small nucleotide changes in conferring important phenotypic changes from chimpanzee to human.