Did Humans Evolve From Ancestral Great Apes?
DNA
may prove so.
may prove so.
Crash Course In DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information.
DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.
DNA Strand, With Code Behind.
Within cells, DNA is organized into long structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in organelles, such as mitochondria or chloroplasts. In contrast, prokaryotes (bacteriaand archaea) store their DNA only in the cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.
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Comparison Between The Great Apes:
Humans, Chimpanzee's, Gorilla's And Orangutans
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Of The Great Apes:
The Gorilla, Chimpanzee and Orangutan
have 48 Chromosomes (24 Base Pairs)
Whilst
Humans have 46 Chromosomes (23 Base Pairs)
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What does this mean?
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Well, with if your human you get:
23 Chromosomes from your mum
23 Chromosomes from your dad
Making the 23 Pairs
(46 Chromosomes)
If your one of the other 3 Great Apes you get:
24 Chromosomes from your mum
24 Chromosomes from your dad
Making the 24 Pairs.
(48 Chromosomes)
If at some point we are a lineage from the great apes and we just happened to lose a chromosome, this presents a problem.
If you are missing a chromosome whilst in the womb, you will not develop properly and die.
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So how, if we are one of the great apes
did we lose a pair of chromosomes?
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Common ancestors of the great apes, either had 48, or 46 Chromosomes.
Seeing as though 3 of the 4 Great Apes have 48 Chromosomes, it is more likely that we decended from 48.
But how is this possible?
If we miss the 2 Chromosomes, we die in development
Well..
There is a process called Fusion.
where one of the 24 Base Pairs
Could have..
Fused to make 23 Base Pairs
To Answer This
We should be able to look at our Genome and discover that one of our chromosomes resulted from the fusion of 2 primate chromosomes
And if we don't find this fusion, then Human Evolution is wrong.
And we don't share a common ancestor with the Great Apes.
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Biology teaches us that
Chromosomes have markers:
Telomeres - A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA found at the end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration. Its name is derived from the Greek nouns telos (τέλος) "end" and merοs (μέρος, root: μερ-) "part". The telomere regions deter the degradation of genes near the ends of chromosomes by allowing for the shortening of chromosome ends, which necessarily occurs during chromosome replication
Centromeres - A centromere is a region of DNA typically found near the middle of a chromosome where two identical sister chromatids come closest in contact. It is involved in cell division as the point of mitotic spindle attachment. The sister chromatids are attached all along their length, but they are closest at the centromere.
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What would happen if a pair
of chromosomes were to fuse?
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It would look like this:
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This Fusion would put Telomeres
This Fusion would put Telomeres
in the centre of the chromosome,
where they don't belong.
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And the resulting Fused Chromosome
should have 2 Centromeres
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One may become inactive (Pseudogene)
But none-the-less still exist there
Here's The Exciting Part
When we scanned our genome
We Found It!!!!!!!
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Chromosome #2
This chromosome was formed
by the Fusion of 2 Ancestral chromosomes
Chromosome #2 is unique to our lineage and emerged as the result of a head to head fusion of 2 Chromosomes, That remain separate in other Great Apes.
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The Precise Fusion Site
15 base Fusion Zone.
with multiple sub-telomere duplications
(telomeres that dont belong)
and the centromere that is deactivated..
..matches up with chimpanzee chromosome #13
DNA Proves
Humans ARE Descendants
From Ancestral Great Apes.
Modern Apes
(Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans)
Are Our Cousins!
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The Gradual Shading Of Blue
Represents The Descendants
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Here is how 'Descent With Modification' works
in a more easy to comprehend way.
in a more easy to comprehend way.
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This is your WHOLE family tree
Related
Almost Human, Sometimes Smarter - New York Times
Interbred With Chimps - Washington Post (Source Cited, But Unavailable)
Sources:
University of California, Santa Cruz (Responsible for Breakthroughs in Genetics)
University of California, Santa Cruz
Comparisons
Genome Sequence Downloads
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