Genetics : Part X

Folks , this is my final instalment on the human genome 

Is your DNA more similar to that of your friends, or your cousins ?

A study from a controversial pair of US researchers claims that we are more genetically similar

to our friends than we are to strangers.

Looking at differences between nearly 2,000 people, recruited as part of a heart study :

they found that friends shared about 0.1% more DNA, on average, than strangers.

While small, this is the same level of similarity expected for distant cousins.  :-[

www.pnas.org/content/111/Supplement_3/10796

"I think that they're unusual findings, and that usually draws criticisms from scientists,"

said Prof James Fowler, one of the study's authors and a professor of both:

medical genetics and political science at the University of California, San Diego.

These results were useful because as well as providing DNA samples ;

participants were asked who their closest friends were.

"Because the study started in a small community, many people that were named as friends,

also happened to be involved in the study,"

Bullshit science . What happens when friends turn into enemies ? Does the DNA changes?