A recent scientific study created a stir by asserting that
humans and chimpanzees belong to the same genus.1 Morris
Goodman, an evolutionary biologist from Wayne State University,
and his research team generated this excitement when they
compared human and chimpanzee genes.2 Goodman's team examined 97
genes that collectively consisted of 90,000 base pairs (genetic
letters)—one of the most extensive human-chimp gene-to-gene
comparisons yet made—and discovered a 99.4% sequence identity.
This similarity led Goodman to conclude that, genetically
speaking, chimpanzees are humans and belong in the genus Homo.
Nonscientific readers might see the 99.4% similarity as
convincing, but it's unlikely that the scientific community will
readily embrace Goodman's conclusion. Genetic comparison is not
the sole criterion for biological classification. Humans and
chimpanzees have obvious anatomical, physiological, behavioral,
and cultural differences that serve as the basis for their
assignments to separate genera. In addition