Orangutan DNA more diverse than human's, remarkably stable through the ages
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 - 14:33
in Biology & Nature
An international team of scientists has decoded the DNA of a Sumatran orangutan. With this genome as a reference, the scientists then sequenced the genomes of five additional Sumatran and five Bornean orangutans, they report in the journal Nature. The research reveals intriguing clues about the evolution of great apes, including humans, and showcases the immense genetic diversity across and within Sumatran and Bornean orangutans.