What percent of the same DNA do a human and chimpanzee share?

The first comprehensive comparison of the genetic blueprints of humans and chimpanzees shows our closest living relatives share perfect identity with 96 percent of our DNA(Deoxyribonucleic Acid) sequence, an international research consortium reported today. The consortium found that the chimp and human genomes are very similar and encode very similar proteins.

When DNA insertions and deletions are taken into account, humans and chimps still share 96 percent of their sequence. At the protein level, 29 percent of genes code for the same amino sequences in chimps and humans. In fact, the typical human protein has accumulated just one unique change since chimps and humans diverged from a common ancestor about 6 million years ago.

The DNA used to sequence the chimp genome came from the blood of a male chimpanzee named Clint at the "Yerkes National Primate Research Center" in Atlanta. Clint died last year from heart failure at the relatively young age of 24, but two cell lines from the primate have been preserved at the "Coriell Institute for Medical Research" in Camden, N.J.

The chimp sequence draft represents the first non-human primate genome and the fourth mammalian genome described in a major scientific publication. A draft of the human genome sequence was published in February 2001, a draft of the mouse genome sequence was published in December 2002 and a draft of the rat sequence was published in March 2004.