Only Point Two Percent Different: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Here's normal human DNA, and here's the DNA of the monsters we're fighting. My God! it's only [[You Fail Biology Forever|0.2% different!]] Despite the fact that the monsters have unexplainable powers, and look, act, and think almost nothing like us, there's no real difference between us and them! Really makes you think [[Humans Are
In [[Real Life]], it is true that we share some portion of our genome with many other species. Hell, humans have specific genes that are pretty much the exact same as ''plants''. According to most scientific theories, this is because all organisms are descended from the same progenitor organism species, which also used DNA, the universal genetic code. Some experts theorize that the first species may have used RNA, which was later used to code for DNA. The genes that were present in that original organism are still around, since they generally serve very important purposes in controlling different aspects of development, but those aspects that they control have been changed and co-opted into other pathways over time. So genes that function to pattern flower growth in some plants (determining which parts of a bud turn into petals, stamens, etc) are necessary for directing heart development in humans.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[Ultimate Spider
== [[Film]] ==
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== [[Live Action Television]] ==
* Inverted on ''[[The Event]]''. The people from the Inostranka crash have 2% different DNA from humans, and the president interprets this fact to mean that they're just like humans. His advisor informs him that they have less in common with humans than apes do. This is used as an argument that they don't deserve human rights, an idea which the president doesn't approve of.
* Referenced on ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'':
{{quote|
'''Foreman:''' Her oxygen saturation is normal.
'''House:''' It’s off by one percentage point.
'''Foreman:''' It’s within range. It’s normal.
'''House:''' If her DNA was off by one percentage point she’d be a dolphin. }}
* The entire premise of ABC's one-season-wonder ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128419/ Prey]'' was based on a killer strain of humanity with the same genetic variance from ''homo sapiens'' as exists between us and chimpanzees. Also, they were caused by global warming.
** The idea being that a localized acceleration of global warming accelerated human adaptation to that phenomenon among a particular population, who then spread out in secret among the rest of humanity. The show named [[X
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In a rare non-human example of this trope, [[Mass Effect]] 2 has, during the Collector ship mission, the discovery that {{spoiler|the [[Insectoid Aliens|collectors]] you've been fighting are actually mutant [[The Precursors|Protheans]], fair enough. Then you realize that the statues of Protheans you see in Mass Effect 1 look absolutely nothing like Collectors, for one thing, Protheans look as if they're mammals, while Collectors are, as said before, [[Insectoid Aliens]]. Granted, [[Cosmic Horror
** It is actually stated that they underwent extensive genetic modification and cyberization. Of course, the point is moot in that {{spoiler|the Prothean in [[Mass Effect 3]] shows the species were more Collector like in their natural state than initially thought}}. ''What'' those statues were in [[Mass Effect 1]], however, is still a mystery.
** It is stated in one conversation in ME3 that those are from an even older race whose planet the Protheans used for their secret research outpost. The Reapers have been doing this for a ''long'' time, and the Protheans were just the last cycle (before this one).
* Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are [[Retcon|RetConned]] into being 0.2% different in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'', to explain why Snake's FOX-DIE infection isn't killing him. This leads to plot holes seeing as 0.2% difference is actually significantly larger in genetic terms than the practical difference between Solid and Liquid (who are identical twins).
* [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the ''[[Harley Quinn (TV series)|Harley Quinn]]'' cartoon, this is subverted. In his efforts to find a cure for his wife's condition, Mr. Freeze has been using the "common snow rat" as test subjects, claiming that snow rats and humans share 98% of the same genes. However, the bin with hundreds of dead snow rats (not to mention the terror expressed by the living ones in his lab) show he's not having much success at all. He now claims he's "98% certain that the 2% difference between genes is the reason I cannot succeed" and needs an actual human test subject. Naturally, this means Harley.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* In reality of course, there are fairly common cases of an additional chromosome. "Down's Syndrome" is actually one of the more benign duplicate chromosomes: in fact, only duplicate sex chromosomes are less harmful. A duplicate of any chromosome other than 21 or 23 drastically shortens your lifespan. Full trisomies of any chromosome other than 13, 18, 21, X or Y are incompatible with life, and cause miscarriage. Partial trisomies can be survivable however.
* We share 75% of our known human disease genes with the fruit fly. (as well as daffodils) Which is [[Awesome Yet Practical|awesome]], as we can experiment on them and not [[Playing
** Genetically, mushrooms are closer relations to us than to plants.
*** Not just genetically. They also act a lot like us. For instance, they eat food, instead of photosynthesizing.
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