• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.175-183
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• 2003

The chimpanzee and gorilla are classified into hominidae, catarrhini, primates. These species are originated from Africa, so called African great apes. Recently, primatologists have classified that there are 2 species 5 subspecies of the chimpanzee and gorilla, respectively. Since the human genome project has been finished, the chimpanzee genome project has been launched to understand human evolution and genetic diseases. The sequences of chimpanzee chromosome 22 homologous to human chromosome 21 were completed, and then the Y chromosome of chimpanzee is being analyzed. Comparative analysis of human, chimpanzee and gorilla could provide the key for understanding of various human diseases and human origin. By detecting human specific-functional genes or mobile genetic elements (HERV, LINE, SINE) through primate research, we could understand what is human being\ulcorner gradually, For these comparative researches, we summarized fundamental knowledge of the feature, phylogeny and evolution of African great apes including humans.