(www.neomundo.com.ar/_SINC) gorillas share 98% of the material genetic with humans, with whom they had a common ancestor about eight million years ago.

The conclusions of the work of more than 70 researchers from 20 laboratories in seven countries, coordinated by the Welcome Trust Institute (United Kingdom) and with Spanish participation, offer a more accurate view of the evolutionary process that gave rise to the emergence of humans and is an important resource for the conservation of gorillas.

NATURE magazine

Sequencing and analysis of the new genome, published this week in Nature, joins being human, chimpanzee and orangutan. Researcher at the Institute of evolutionary biology (University Pompeu Fabra-CSIC), Tomas Marques-Bonet, has led the analysis of the structural organization of the genome in comparison with other hominids and explains its clinical importance, because the results will help to understand the mechanisms of human evolution and the origin of many diseases: “between 5% and 10% of regions in the genetic material of the Gorilla they recur and cause diseases that also occur in humans””, such as Autism and schizophrenia”.

Furthermore, the researcher stresses the synthesis of genetic evidence and fossils of the study: “This is the first article that has tried to find a common point with the Paleoanthropology to approaching the molecular study of a species”.

The evolution

The results will help to understand the mechanisms of human evolution and the origin of many diseases

The chimpanzee is the closest to man great ape, but the techniques of genomic to compare four primate species have confirmed one-third of the genome of the gorilla is evolutionarily closer to the human or chimpanzee that last between them two.

Genetic groups

After comparing thousands of genes shared between the great apes, the study suggests that there is genetic groups related to the auditory perception and brain development are among those who have more quickly changed in the lineage of the gorilla and human. This would suggest that certain features generally associated with the human condition, and the evolution of auditory genes associated with language, would not be exclusive of the species would be shared with the gorillas.

The copy

The genome of gorilla that has been discussed is that of a copy of Western female (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), called Kamilah at the Zoo in San Diego (USA). For the comparison of the DNA sequence, has used the genetic material of an oriental male individual (Gorilla beringei) of the Zoo of Antwerp (Belgium), Mukisi. Has been to the two currently existing Gorilla subspecies, the eastern gorillas (Congo, Rwanda and Uganda) and gorillas of West (Gabon and Cameroon), specialised 1.75 million years ago.

Collection of genomes

Nature is the scientific journal published by the sequencing of the genome of the great apes. The first study of the year 2005, analysed the genetic material of the chimpanzee, with whom humans share 99% of the genome. Last year, the Orangutan was the cover of the magazine, with whom the genetic coincidence is 96%. Now, the gorilla has an intermediate place among them.

“So far had studied the orangutan and chimpanzee to see us up close to see us by far as a species.” For this reason, the Gorilla was the great forgotten. “Even so, had to be done”, recognizes Marques-Bonet.

Next a genome sequencing will analyze the genetic material of the bonobos, an investigation led by the Max Planck Institute (Germany), in which Marques-Bonet is already immersed.

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