A random fact about DNA

Lol, wow wasnt expecting that.

Indeed and most creatures (Mamals, Fish, Birds and Reptiles) all share a greater DNA and all look near the same at the 1st Embryo stage. [img]http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/book1qts/embryo-compare.jpg[/img]

Maybe the Space Jockey made every being on earth? Wonder why all the ones they've made all on earth are so damn malicious and hostile?

[quote]We share 70% of our DNA with slugs[/quote] Yet not the fun reproductive part.

I think humans seem to be exceptionally significant in terms of having individual niches and qualities. I do believe we are the most dominant species on the planet for a reason (if it was like Space Jockeys then that would be interesting). We are the most powerful yet self-destructive entities on earth, maybe the Space Jockeys are similar they are the architects of their own destruction. (i.e. their playing with genetics).

@Gehirn; Slugs are into some kinky stuff, just sayin'. :P Link-->[url=http://youtu.be/FhVi4Z6CjZk]Snails Mating[/url]

@Svanya, now that's how it's done!

Svanya, I just puked up my coffee a bit, gross

@Svanya I always wondered if Snails was just Slugs doing some Dogging lol

I had to burst out laughing when after all the big weird intertwining, one just plops off and smacks the floor with a big nasty K.O.

Hey at least I learned something today, thanks Svanya - bit gross though.

Are we the dominant lifeform on the planet? We are arguably the dominant [i]large[/i] lifeform on the planet. But I don't think we could make a claim against insects, or bacteria. Did you know that the most common cell in your body isn't even you? There are more single-celled bacteria in your gut than "your" cells in the rest of your body...

I meant in terms of presence more than anything and the fact we are a habitual virus.

Glad my post made your day, guys. xx

@Svanya, yay baby! Slimey lovin'!!!

And it's not just the similarities, but the precise differences within those areas of similarity that points to ancestry. If there is a common sequence in the DNA of two organisms, but that sequence has a specific "typo" in location 123 .. then we can trace common relationships and branches by finding other organisms that have the same typo in the same location 123 of that same sequence. And finally a lot of DNA has no function at all ... literally called "junk DNA." These are carryovers from common ancestors between the two organisms ... going right back to bits and pieces that are useful in even more elemental organisms. It's this junk DNA that's really a tell-tale sign of common ancestry. Why else would there be common sequences of base-pairs in the DNA, that are present in both species, but serves no function in either species?

... :-| Not sure if I should be aroused or go take a shower...

A report in 2003 of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that the common value of 98% similarity of DNA between chimp and humans is incorrect. Roy Britten, author of the study, puts the figure at about 95% when insertions and deletions are included. Importantly, there is much more to these studies than people realize. There are a number of significant differences that are difficult to quantify, but here are specific examples of these differences: 1. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes while chimpanzees have 24. Evolutionary scientists believe that one of the human chromosomes has been formed through the fusion of two small chromosomes in the chimp instead of an intrinsic difference resulting from a separate creation. 2. At the end of each chromosome is a string of repeating DNA sequences called a telomere. Chimpanzees and other apes have about 23 kilobases (a kilobase is 1,000 base pairs of DNA) of repeats. Humans are unique among primates with much shorter telomeres only 10 kilobases long. 3. The Y chromosome in particular is of a different size and has many markers that do not line up between the human and chimpanzee. 4. Scientists have prepared a human-chimpanzee comparative clone map of chromosome 21 in particular. They observed ‘large, non-random regions of difference between the two genomes.’ They found a number of regions that ‘might correspond to insertions that are specific to the human lineage.’ I found that humans share 95% of our DNA with chimpanzees, we share 75% of our DNA with dogs, we share 70% of our DNA with slugs, we share 60% of our DNA with fruit flies, we share 50% of our DNA with bananas, 40-50% of our DNA with cabbages. Depending on the accuracy fo the numbers I gave above, I would guess that humans share about 60% - 65% of our DNA with reptiles ... and it depends on which reptile, love that we share 50% with bananas & 40-50% with cabbages.

FYI, new research has shown that the so called "junk DNA" turns out to be code for what/when and how the proteins function. Silly humans, can't see the forest for the trees sometimes:O)

introns -- "junk DNA", as you call it -- don't make as strong a case as homeobox genes. in addition to being highly conserved across species, they directly affect embryonic development.

I love this thread. Carry on.

When the slug hits the floor, the human equivalent is Pauly D from the Jersey Shore asking "Can I call you a cab now?"