Ninety-Eight Percent Similar?

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You’ve probably heard we share 98% of our DNA with chimps, our supposed closest living relatives.

But that 98% number has a lot of problems. It’s based off old data that used human DNA as a framework because the researchers assumed common ancestry. When a true ape-only genome was sequenced, the number of similarities dropped dramatically to only about 85% similar.

This similarity in DNA doesn’t suggest a common ancestor. In the same way a computer programmer uses the same basic commands to design many different programs, the Creator used the same basic instructions to code for a variety of different organisms.

Dig Deeper

• Study Finds Chimp DNA Is Not “99% Identical” to Ours
• Why the Similarity Percentage of Chimp and Human DNA Is Deceptive