All life on Earth - be it a bacteria, a microbe, a virus, a plant, a tree or an animal encodes its generic information as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is a sequence of four types of nucleotides (A, C, G & T) which make up genes which in turn make up chromosomes.A human being possesses 23 pair of chromosomes, that is a 22 pair of chromosome plus a X-Y pair for males or a X-X pair for females.
Man share 98.8% of their DNA with the chimpanzee. Any two human beings share 99,9% of their DNA. Think about it - only 0,1% of your DNA separates you from every other human being out there.
Recently, Man has been able to decode DNA sequences from various species (including human) and it has been able to recombine and assemble entire new DNA sequences from scratch. It has even come to the point where it's possible to create new simple synthetic organisms. It's quite impressive! Watch Craig Venter on TED speaking about creating synthetic life. It's really amazing!
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