Comprehensive reference genomes have now been assembled for six ape species: siamang (a Southeast Asian gibbon), Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, gorilla, bonobo and chimpanzee. Areas of their genomes previously inaccessible because of structural complexity have now mostly been resolved.
The resource is already lending itself to comparative studies that offer new insights into human and ape evolution, and into what underlies the functional differences among these species.
