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double helix

Nature 421, 409-412 (23 January 2003) | doi:10.1038/nature01400

Open Innovation Challenges

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feature The mosaic that is our genome

Svante Pääbo

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The discovery of the basis of genetic variation has opened inroads to understanding our history as a species. It has revealed the remarkable genetic similarity we share with other individuals as well as with our closest primate relatives. To understand what make us unique, both as individuals and as a species, we need to consider the genome as a mosaic of discrete segments, each with its own unique history and relatedness to different contemporary and ancestral individuals.