CHIMPANZEE Y CHROMOSOME RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM HUMAN
(Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is by Dr. Robert Carter, “The Chimpanzee Y Chromosome Is Radically Different from Human,” Dec. 16, 2010, creation.com: ”
A new study published on the Y chromosome of chimpanzees has surprised many. After a lot of work, the chimpanzee Y chromosome has finally been finished. This may come as a surprise to many who thought the chimpanzee genome was completed way back in 2005. Actually, the original chimpanzee genome construction was less than optimal as they did not sequence it to the same standards of the human genome. … Half of the chimpanzee ampliconic sequence, and 30% of the entire MSY, has no counterpart in the human MSY, and vice versa. These are sizable differences…. Finding this much difference in one of the sex chromosomes was huge. The 30% difference among human and chimp MSY regions was a shock. … For the creationist, we now know that the old ‘humans and chimps are 99% identical’ canard is passé. Interestingly, a significant paper appeared in 2007 calling the 99% rule ‘a myth;’ and claiming that we have known for decades that humans and chimps were much more different. But this has been a significant and powerful evolutionary argument. How many people had their faith wrecked on those ‘mythical’ rocks? Now we have half of the chimpanzee Y chromosome and learn that it is only 70% identical to human. This is evidence that humans and chimpanzees are very different. How different? To quote the famous geneticist, Svante Pääbo, ‘I don’t think there’s any way to calculate a number … In the end, it’s a political and social and cultural thing about how we see our differences.’ This statement was made before the chimp Y chromosome data became available. If the number is incalculable, can we not jettison every evolutionary story of chimp-human common ancestry based on genetics? The new data on the chimp Y chromosome makes the case for common ancestry that much worse.”