Humans and chimps have evolved separately since splitting from a common ancestor about 6 million years ago, and their DNA remains highly similar — about 96 percent to almost 99 percent identical, depending on how the comparison is made.
Still, the number of genetic differences between a human and a chimp is about 10 times more than between any two humans, the federal genome institute says. It's the differences — some 40 million — that attract the attention of scientists.
There are no firm answers yet about how humans picked up key traits such as walking upright and developing complex language. But the work has produced a long list of DNA differences with the chimp and some hints about which ones might be crucial.
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