Humans are not Homogeneous

Research by international scholar Stephen W. Scherer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute argues against the common belief that humans share 99.9 percent of the same genes. Scherer and colleagues found approximately 2,900 genes--more than 10 percent of the genes in the human genome--with variations in the number of copies of specific DNA segments, which leads to differences in gene activity and organism function. Also, there are also some nucleotides that some people have and some people don't. The increased genetic variety only makes the study of the human genome and associated genetic disorders even more difficult. I found this article to be interesting because I had learned the 99.9% statistic earlier this year in a different class, and I did not really believe it to be plausible.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/hhmi-gvw112006.php