Credit: Martin Krzywinski, Canada’s Michel Smith Genome Sciences Center.
Clockwise from top right, the genomes of a human, chimpanzee, mouse and zebrafish are arranged in a circle. Each colored square at the outside of the circle corresponds to a pair of chromosomes, the threadlike packages of DNA stored in the nucleus. Lines connect similar DNA sequences, visually emphasizing just how much DNA humans share with other species. The density of the connections indicates that humans have more in common with chimpanzees than zebrafish.