Neanderthal genome sequenced

Researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute have now sequenced the 3 billion letter in the Neanderthal genome. The current fossil record suggests that Neanderthals diverged from the primate line that led to preset-day humans over 400,000 years ago in Africa. After comparing the genes from samples of present day humans from China, France, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa and Western Africa to those found in bones Neanderthals who lived 40,000 years ago, researchers found that they were 99.7% identical to present day human DNA. One thing I found interesting was that no traces of Neanderthal DNA were found in the present day humans from Africa. The article can be found here.