Human Genome Help: Solving Time Calculation Question

[jesooka]

I am having trouble figuring out this question:

Assuming a non-overlapping mutation rate of 5000 mut/day. How long in years would it take for the human genome to diverge 1% (the genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees) from its current state?

If there are 3 x 10^9 pair in the human genome and 1% of this is 3 x 10^7 how do I figure out the amount of time to reach the 1%? I am stuck! I keep getting 16 years, I know that the number should be closer to 10 million years. Any starter tips or clues?

 

[Monique]

You have to put in generation time :) how many times can a human reproduce in 16 years? And how did you get 5000 mut/day?

 

[ravenprp]

To solve this question, we need to use the formula: time = number of mutations / mutation rate. In this case, the number of mutations we are looking for is 3 x 10^7 and the mutation rate is 5000 mut/day. To convert the mutation rate to years, we need to multiply it by 365 (since there are 365 days in a year). This gives us 1,825,000 mut/year. Plugging this into the formula, we get: time = 3 x 10^7 / 1,825,000 = 16,438.4 years. This is close to the 16 years you were getting, but the reason for the difference is that you were using a mutation rate of 5000 mut/year instead of 5000 mut/day. To get the correct answer of 10 million years, we need to use a mutation rate of 5000 mut/day. I hope this helps!