Researchers have already sequenced the genomes of humans, chimpanzees2 and orang-utans3. Understanding these genetic catalogues, from our closest living relatives, can reveal much about our evolutionary path — such as when we diverged from our primate cousins and what makes humans different from apes.
After chimps, gorillas are the closest living relative of humans. “When humans and chimps diverged it wasn’t long after gorillas had separated from the same lineage,” says Aylwyn Scally, whose team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, led the sequencing effort.
