BETHESDA, United States (AFP) - National Institutes of Health (news - web sites) officials announced they had published a draft version of the chimpanzee genome sequence and posted it on an internet website.
Chimpanzees are the animals most closely related to humans.
The chimp sequence was posted on a website next to the human genome sequence for comparison purposes, the NIH said in a statement.
A comparison of the sequencing could help medical research.
An international team of researchers based at the University of Washington in Seattle, in the north-western United States, will compare the sequences and publish its work in the next months, according to the NIH.
The research was carried out under the direction of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which depends on the Bethesda-based NIH.
From:AFP
