Our closest wormy cousins: About 70% of our genes trace their ancestry back to the acorn worm
Thursday, November 19, 2015 - 05:03
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have analyzed the genomes of two acorn worm species and found that approximately two-thirds of human genes have counterparts in the ancestors of these marine animals. These ancient genes, and their organization within the genome, were already in place in the common ancestor of humans and acorn worms that lived over half a billion years ago.