How genetically different are different people?

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SUMMARY

Genetic differences among humans are minimal, with individuals sharing 99.9% of their genes. The variation is approximately 1 in 1,000 base pairs, which is significantly lower than the 1 in 500 base pairs observed in chimpanzees. This close genetic relationship is attributed to the relatively young age of Homo sapiens and the global mixing of populations due to migration and interbreeding. Therefore, the genetic divergence between individuals from distinct regions, such as southern Italy and Japan, is negligible.

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  • Understanding of basic genetics concepts, including DNA and base pairs
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wasteofo2
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I'm curious about how many genetic differences there are between different types of people. For instance, is there some measure of genetic standard deviation within the human population, and simmilar such things for smaller populations of humans? How great would be the genetic difference between two people from southern Italy, whose ancestors have lived there for hundreds of generations, compared to one person from southern Italy, and another from Japan, whose ancestors have also been living in Japan for hundreds of generations?

Thanks a lot,
Jacob
 
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Genetic difference in humans is small. Homo sapiens is relatively young so they are all very related. Plus with technology that allows traveling all around the world the changes that did evolve get shared by people all over the world by people of different ethnicities getting children.

Humans have 1 variation on 1000 base pairs. Chimps have 1 in 500 base pairs.

People generally share 99.9 of their genes with everyone else.
 

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