Thus, DNA plays an essential part in the study of evolution. The degree of genetic variation between two species indicates how different they are from one another and, in turn, how closely or distantly related they are.
We’ve been told for years that chimpanzee and human DNA are very identical. The claim of human-ape common ancestry is then supported by the genetic similarity statistic. All of this serves as evidence against the idea of human exceptionalism. Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”) embodies this way of thinking in his book Undeniable:
“As our knowledge of DNA has grown, we have learned that chimps and humans have around 98.8% of the same gene sequence. This is compelling proof that chimps and chumps shared an ancestor.”
Dennis Venema, a researcher affiliated with BioLogos, asserts that we are “but a hand-breadth away from our evolutionary cousins at the DNA level.”
Even Dennis Venema seems to recognize that a degree of DNA similarity does not necessarily indicate shared ancestry.
People who are seeking to deny common ancestry are the ones who are most interested in the “% genome identity” idea. Simply said, scientists aren’t interested in this specific value because it doesn’t provide the kinds of compelling scientific insights that other values provide.
