Key Takeaways:
🐒 Nearly 99.9% of human DNA is identical to that of other humans.
🐱 Cats and humans share about 90% of their genetic makeup.
🐭 Around 85% of human DNA is shared with mice.
🐖 Humans and pigs share a substantial portion of DNA, about 98%.
🐔 Over half of human DNA, or 60%, is shared with chickens.
🌳 Humans and trees have 50% of their DNA in common.
🐌 Slugs and humans share 70% of their DNA.
🐝 Honey bees and humans share 44% of their DNA.
🍌 Bananas and humans have roughly 60% of their DNA in common.
🐶 Dogs and humans share approximately 84% of their DNA.
Have you ever wondered how much DNA you share with the animals of the world? The results may surprise you. While it makes a lot of sense to think that we share a large portion of our DNA similarities with animals like chimpanzees and apes, we also share DNA with many other organisms including dogs, bananas, and daffodils! Let’s go over the DNA likenesses that we as human beings have with other living creatures.
 | Human | 99.9% |
 | Neanderthal | 99.7% |
 | Chimps | 98.8% |
 | Gorilla | 98.4% |
 | Pig | 98% |
 | Orangutan | 96.9% |
 | Cat | 90% |
 | Mouse | 85% |
 | Dog | 84% |
 | Cow | 80% |
 | Zebrafish | 73% |
 | Slug | 70% |
 | Chicken | 65% |
 | Fruit flies | 61% |
 | Banana | 60% |
 | Tree | 50% |
 | Cabbage | 45% |
 | Honey bee | 44% |
 | Apple | 40% |
 | Yeast | 26% |
 | Daffodil | 25% |
Understanding Genetics
Every single living organism on the planet has DNA. This is a self-replicating material that passes on information from one organism to the next. Our bodies are made up of millions of genetic building blocks, otherwise known as base pairs, that make up our physical anatomy.
There are about 3 billion genome base pairs that make human beings about 99.9% similar to the other human strangers around us. However, recent research has uncovered the fact that our closest relatives, chimpanzees, are nearly 98.8% similar to humans genetically. In addition to this, cats are about 90% similar and even honey bees share 44% of DNA.
Genetic Similarities Between Animals
While chimpanzees and apes are the most genetically similar creatures to us as humans, other organisms also share a huge portion of our DNA. Below, we will go over a few of them.
Human beings share 99.9% of their DNA with all other human beings. This genetic material determines our eye color, our genetic predispositions, and our likelihood to inherit other critical traits. That being said, we also share an unexpected amount of DNA with many other creatures!
Cats, for instance, are more like you and me than anyone would have guessed, say, 100 years ago. Perhaps that explains why some people display such fine feline-like tendencies such as laying out in the sun on a summer day. In 2007, a study found that felines share around 90% of their overall genetic material with sapiens. So the next time someone refers to their friend as a “cat person”, they may be more correct than they realize.
We’ve talked about cats, but what about mice? How much DNA could you possibly share with a mouse? Well, the answer is a whopping 85%! That’s more than most people realize, though it does help to explain why lab mice work so well for scientific research.
We’ve all heard the expression “pigging out.” Interestingly enough, human beings also share a huge amount of genetic material with pigs. Almost as much as we do with chimpanzees! The genetic DNA similarity between pigs and human beings is 98%. Interspecies organ transplant activities between humans and pigs have even taken place, called xenotransplants.
If you’ve ever been called a chicken (closest living relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex), chances are that someone in your life is probably just trying to pressure you into jumping into a lake or trying on an ugly sweater. That being said, you may be interested to know that humans and chickens share more than half of their DNA, around 60%.
We also share a shocking amount of DNA with plants and insects. We share 50% of our DNA with trees, 70% with slugs (gross), 44% with honey bees, and even 25% with daffodils.
We share around 60% of our DNA with bananas.
Not as much as we might think at first. Only 84% of DNA we share. Less than cats and even pigs.
If you want to find your human DNA relatives, check out these articles: which is better 23andMe or Ancestry, and the best DNA tests on the market.
So there you have it! DNA similarities exist primarily because DNA is an influential chemical building block that makes up a huge portion of the genetic material shared by all living organisms. That being said, when you truly break things down, we are not so different after all! To learn more about DNA composition and inter-species similarities, click here.
FAQ:
A: Humans share varying amounts of DNA with different animals and plants. The amount of shared DNA depends on the evolutionary relatedness between humans and the other species.
Q: How is DNA similarity measured?
A: DNA similarity is usually measured in terms of percentage. It represents the proportion of the DNA sequence that is identical or similar between two species.
Q: What is a homologous gene?
A: A homologous gene is a gene that is derived from a common ancestor. Homologous genes are similar because they share a common evolutionary history.
A: Humans and apes, such as bonobos and chimpanzees, are closely related. They share approximately 98.8% of their DNA sequence.
Q: How does the DNA of humans and animals differ?
A: The DNA of humans and animals may have differences in specific gene sequences. These differences can result in variations in physical characteristics, disease susceptibility, and other traits.
Q: What is the difference between human and animal chromosomes?
A: The main difference between human and animal chromosomes is their structure and the arrangement of genes on the chromosomes. However, the overall number and function of chromosomes are similar in humans and animals.
Q: Why is human DNA so similar to other species?
A: Human DNA is similar to other species because all living organisms share a common ancestry. Over millions of years, DNA changes have accumulated, resulting in the genetic differences we see today.
A: Humans and mice share approximately 90% of their DNA. This high level of similarity is due to the fact that both species are mammals and have a common ancestor.
A: Humans share a small percentage of their DNA with plants. However, the level of DNA similarity between humans and plants is much lower compared to animals.
A: Humans and bananas do not share a significant amount of DNA. The genetic difference between humans and plants is much greater compared to the genetic similarity between humans and animals.
Resources:
- https://sciencing.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-8628167.html
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/human-dna-share-cats-cattle-mice-same-genetics-code-a8292111.html
- https://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5
- https://sciencing.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-8628167.html
- https://www.saps.org.uk/saps-associates/browse-q-and-a/473-how-much-dna-do-plants-share-with-humans-over-99
- http://education.seattlepi.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-6693.html
- http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/05/03/2887206.htm
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/acorn-worm-dna_n_564f5a50e4b0258edb3145dc
- https://education.seattlepi.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-6693.html
Throughout his career, Andras Kovacs has developed a deep understanding of DNA and its applications in genealogy and genetic testing. He has helped thousands of individuals uncover their ancestral heritage, using cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace family lineages and reveal connections across generations.