What are some mind-blowing facts that sound like 'BS', but are actually true?

You and I are only 0.1% different genetically [1].

Chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, are only about 1.2% different from us [2].

Talking about chimpanzees and us, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) originated from Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) found in chimpanzees [3]. SIV is relatively benign to  the chimpz, but when it jumped species to a new host (us), it quickly  became one of our sworn nemeses due to its lethality.

Talking about HIV and us, approximately 1% of the descendents of Northern Europeans have been found to be immune to HIV as they carry two copies of a particular genetic mutation [4]. The virus will remain in the body of these lucky people but its chance of developing AIDS drops significantly. As this mutation also occurs in other parts of Europe albeit at lower frequency than in Northern Europe, it suggests that the Vikings who plundered across Europe might be the origin.

See, the Vikings are not that bad in the end.

[1] Understanding Human Genetic Variation
[2] POST data
[3] Origin of HIV & AIDS
[4] HIV Resistant Mutation

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