By Chris Deziel Updated Aug 30, 2022
Every cell in a living organism carries deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the self‑replicating material that transmits hereditary traits across generations. DNA is encoded by four chemical bases—adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). When we discuss DNA sharing, we refer to the patterns of these bases.
Research shows that 99.9 % of the genetic information in human DNA is identical among all individuals. The remaining 0.01 % accounts for differences in hair, eye, and skin color, height, and disease susceptibility. Since all life evolved from a common ancestor, humans share DNA with all other organisms, with closer relatives sharing more sequences.
The statement “Did humans evolve from apes?” misses the point: humans are apes. Within the primate order, the great apes—gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos—are the subgroup that includes humans. Humans (Homo sapiens) share 98.7 % of their genetic sequence with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and 98.7 % with bonobos (Pan paniscus), according to the Max Planck Institute. Their common ancestor lived 6–8 million years ago. Humans share 1.6 % of the DNA unique to bonobos that they do not share with chimpanzees, and vice versa.
Tracing back 25 million years brings us to the common ancestor of monkeys and apes; a further 65 million years ago, the earliest mammals emerged, predating the dinosaurs. Humans share roughly 93 % of their DNA with rhesus monkeys, 90 % with domestic cats, and about 85 % with mice. The high similarity with mice explains their value as model organisms in medical research.
Going further back, humans share more than 50 % of their genetic material with all plants and animals. For example, cows share about 80 %, fruit flies 61 %, and bananas 60 %. These figures include a large amount of non‑coding, or “silent,” DNA that does not encode proteins.
