The Zoonomia Project has analyzed and compared the genome of 240 species of mammals representing 80% of the families of this class of animals. The first results of that work shed light on what part of DNA we have shared for millions of years with other mammals.
The project has brought to light more than three million of these regulatory elements of the human genome, half of which were not known until now. Scientists note that genetic mutations in these largely conserved regions are very likely to cause disease in humans.