Humans Only 1.5% Different from Neanderthals and Denisovans?

The study authors write, “We find that only 1.5 to 7 percent of the modern human genome is uniquely human.” Now, one and one-half to seven percent is a very large margin of error! Why might that be? Well, for two reasons.

Here’s the first, according to Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson, a biologist on our research staff who has worked heavily with DNA and has a PhD from Harvard:

Unfortunately, this study treats existing Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA sequences as reliable. I have published experimental results showing that this assumption is invalid. As much as I’d like to know how close our DNA is to our extinct relatives, this study doesn’t answer the question.

Those evolutionary assumptions appear to be integral to their study methods and since those assumptions are wrong, their conclusions are wrong as well.

And here’s the second reason: the paper relied on evolutionary assumptions regarding ancestry and descent from a common ancestor. Those evolutionary assumptions appear to be integral to their study methods and since those assumptions are wrong, their conclusions are wrong as well.

I suspect that if, someday, we are able to accurately sequence the DNA of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other so-called human cousins, we will find they are genetically very close to “modern man.” Why? Because they aren’t our distant evolutionary cousins—they are humans just like us and all related. These post-flood peoples are descendants of Adam and Eve (and of Noah and his family), made in God’s image, and therefore fully human. So, creationists don’t expect vast differences between the DNA of those peoples and people living today. Instead, we expect minor variations.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed today on Answers News with cohosts Bodie Hodge, Dr. Georgia Purdom, and Tim Chaffey. Answers News is our twice-weekly news program filmed here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on my Facebook page and the Answers in Genesis Facebook page. We also covered the following topics:

• Will shark intestines inspire future design?
• Christian teachers must use trans pronouns and names, judge rules.
• UK court rules hospital can end the life of a child against the parent’s wishes.
• And more!

Be sure to join us each Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. (ET) on my Facebook page or the Answers in Genesis Facebook page for Answers News. You won’t want to miss this unique news program that gives science and culture news from a distinctly biblical and Christian perspective.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.