An international study has deciphered the gorilla genome for the first time, revealing that this ape looks much more like our species than we thought. Specifically, in 15 percent of our genome, humans are evolutionarily closer to the gorilla than to the chimpanzee. Researchers from the Instituto de
Evolutionary Biology (Pompeu Fabra University and CSIC, Barcelona).
"Although in general terms the human genome is more similar to that of the chimpanzee," explains Tomás Marquès? Bonet, one of the co-authors, "there are areas of it in which humans bear more similarities to the gorilla." An example is the auditory genes associated with language, which would not be exclusive to our species, as was previously thought, but would be shared with gorillas, suggesting a similar evolution in these characteristics.
The results, published in the journal Nature , can be analyzed together with the genomes of the chimpanzee, orangutan and man, which have already been sequenced previously, and will allow a better understanding of the evolutionary process that led to the appearance of the human being.
Researchers have also recalled the importance of protecting and conserving these animal species. Gorillas, which are in danger of extinction, survive today in few isolated populations in the equatorial forests of Central Africa.
