Science in Seconds - Human-Chimp Hybrid

Science in Seconds Know Everything RUMOURS - Human-Chimp Hybrid Torah Kachur: Ever wonder how to make a creationist's head explode? Don't just talk about humans and chimps sharing a common ancestor. We've all heard that one. What about that our human and chimp ancestors mating to create a human-chimp hybrid? A chuman. A humanzee. Ka-boom! Back in the '20s, a Russian biologist tried to inseminate female chimpanzees with human sperm. It was unsuccessful for many reasons. Not necessarily because the embryo was incompatible. But some quack with a test-tube of sperm isn't what I'm talking about. New research suggests that way back, I mean way back, about six million years ago, the ancestors to modern-day humans and chimpanzees interbred, repeatedly, likely over thousands or millions of years. The research is controversial, but the dude who proposed it is from Harvard, so he trumps anyone else. The theory came about because genes on the X-chromosome between humans and chimpanzees diverged more recently than other chromosomes. This doesn't make sense, unless you think the male humanzee (or chuman) was sterile, but the female was fertile. This isn't that far out there, at least genetically. The theory isn't without its critics, and so far there aren't piles of evidence backing it up, but it isn't that hard to imagine. After all, we are all primates. Courtesy of Science in Seconds – All rights reserved Only for educational/non-profit purposes. (Translators are invited to put their name here)