Science Matters
The Missing Link
One of the great feats of exploration, the Human Genome Project (HGP), completed in April 2003 gave us the ability to read the complete genetic blueprint for building a human being. This was an international research effort to sequence and map the genome, the complete genetic map, of our species, Homo sapiens.
DNA
Written in the genetic code of DNA and RNA is compelling evidence that all living organisms on Earth have a shared ancestry. DNA has become a powerful tool in helping us discover the history and commonality of life on earth.
DNA has become an essential part of our toolkit in following our trail out of Africa, through the plains of Europe and Asia, across the land bridge of the Bering Strait, throughout the Americas, North and South.
Genetics tells us that the last common ancestor of humans and chimps lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. We share 96% of our genetic code with our closest relative, the chimp.
| The Tree of Life On Earth | |
| Basic Time Frame | Billions/Millions of years |
|---|---|
| The Age of the Earth | 4.5 billion years young |
| Simple Cells (prokaryotes) | 3.6 billion years ago |
| Cyanobacteria (photosynthesis) | 3.4 billion years ago |
| Complex Cells (Eukaryotes) | 2.0 billion years ago |
| Multicellular Life | 1 billion years ago |
| Simple Animals | 600 million years ago |
| Fish and proto-amphibians | 500 million years ago |
| Land Plant Life | 475 million years ago |
| Insects | 400 million years ago |
| Amphibians | 360 million years ago |
| Mammals | 200 million years ago |
| Birds | 150 million years ago |
| Flowers | 130 million years ago |
| Primates | 60 million years ago |
| Great Apes | 20 million years ago |
| genus homo | 2.5 million years ago |
| anatomically modern humans | 200,000 years ago |
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