# 27 differences between Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal — what does this mean for DNA ID? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814 "2004-10-12T13:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814/1 "2004-10-12T13:00:15Z")
I watched a television documentary, “Humans: Who Are We?”. Discussing the comparison between the DNA of homo sapiens and homo neanderthalis and whether one could have descended from the other, Dr. Lynn Jorde (he’s male despite the name), a geneticist at the University of Utah, said: “For human versus Neanderthal, there were 27 differences, many more than what we usually find when we compare modern humans to one another. This argues that Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans are really quite distinct.” My question has to do with identification by DNA analysis. If there are indeed far fewer DNA differences than 27 among all living humans, how can there be enough combinations to establish to a statistical certainty that Mr. Smith was the one who _had_ to rape Ms. Jones? Or are permutations all that are needed, i.e., the set {A, B, C} would not match the set {A, C, B}? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814/2 "2004-10-12T13:58:12Z")
> [@](#): > > "For human versus Neanderthal, there were 27 differences, many more than what we usually find when we compare modern humans to one another. These differences were all inside a [single, tiny (387 base pair) piece](http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/neanderthal.html) of mitochondrial DNA. If the researchers had had a bigger piece of DNA to work with, they’d certainly have found more than 27 differences. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814/3 "2004-10-12T14:43:55Z")
Thanks, Squink. That would explain it. It is possible that Dr. Jorde had mentioned that but editors cut it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814/4 "2004-10-12T16:01:04Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > These differences were all inside a [single, tiny (387 base pair) piece](http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/neanderthal.html) of mitochondrial DNA. If the researchers had had a bigger piece of DNA to work with, they’d certainly have found more than 27 differences. But it’s not at all clear if the ratio of the differences would be higher or lower. That’s what matters in determining the relative relatedness of Sapiens and Neanderthals. Althought that’s not what the OP is asking, it’s possible that someone could misread your explanation to mean that the data presented underestimates the relatedness of the two populations. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/27-differences-between-homo-sapiens-and-neanderthal-what-does-this-mean-for-dna-id/268814/5 "2004-10-12T16:54:28Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > But it’s not at all clear if the ratio of the differences would be higher or lower. That’s what matters in determining the relative relatedness of Sapiens and Neanderthals. Althought that’s not what the OP is asking, it’s possible that someone could misread your explanation to mean that the data presented underestimates the relatedness of the two populations. Yes, I tried to avoid giving that impression. Of course the only way to find the _actual_ percentage difference would be to compare much larger pieces of the genomes. Those aren’t available, so we’re stuck with what we have.