Do Humans And Chimps Really Share Nearly 99% of Their DNA?
8th September 2025
Chimpanzees, along with bonobos, are humans’ closest living relatives. In fact, you may have heard that humans and chimps share 98.8% of their DNA.
But is this actually true? And what does “similar DNA” actually mean?
The truth is that the frequently cited 98.8% similarity between chimp (Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) DNA overlooks key differences in the species’ genomes, experts told Live Science.