Susie, An Ape, Helps To Indicate Gorilla Genome, Primate And Human Evolution

Susie, an 11-year-old Western lowland gorilla at Ohio's Columbus Zoo has proved to be a great friend and relative to humans. Scientists got an insight into the genetic similarities and differences between humans and gorillas through her.

The new gorilla genome showed that there is a more genetic relation between humans and gorillas than believed, with a divergence of just 1.6 percent. Just chimpanzees and bonobos, apart from gorillas show some relationship with the human species.

The differences in our genetic codes include immune and reproductive systems, skin and fingernails and the regulation of the insulin hormone, which regulates blood sugar levels.

"The differences between species may aid researchers in identifying regions of the human genome that are associated with higher cognition, complex language, behavior and neurological diseases," said  Christopher Hill, lead author of the study. "Having complete and accurate reference genomes to compare allows researchers to uncover these differences."

The genomic sequencing was made based on a blood sample from Susie when she lived at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. Experts are drawing up a catalog of the genetic variations between humans and the great apes. This is the taxonomic family including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos.

"My motivation in studying human and great ape genomes is to try to learn what makes us tick as a species," said  Evan Eichler, senior author of the study. "I'd like to see a re-doing of all the great ape genomes, including chimpanzee and orangutan, to get a comprehensive view of the genetic variants that distinguish humans from the great apes. I believe there is far more genetic variation than we had previously thought. The first step is finding it."

The assembly also gives an insight into their evolutionary history of lowland gorillas.

"I think the take-home message is that the new genome technology and assembly bring us back to the place we should have been 10 years ago," Eichler said. "Sequencing technology and computational biology," Eichler and his team wrote in their paper, "have now advanced to the stage where individual laboratories can generate high-quality genomes of mammals. This capability has the promise to revolutionize our understanding of genome evolution and species biology."

The findings were published in the April 1,2016 issue of Science.