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There is strong evidence that chromosome 2 in humans is a fusion of two chimp chromosomes (i.e. common ancestor of chimps and humans) as explained at wikipedia here

The question is what are the odds of a similar event occuring at random in newborns?

I have read conflicting reports, some say these things happen in about 1 out of a 1000 live births, while others placed the odds at somewhere around 1 in 7 billion.

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  • $\begingroup$ Its not the fusion of two chimp chromosomes. To be more precisely - its the fusion of two chromosomes in common ancestor (chimp & human). $\endgroup$
    – pogibas
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 1:45
  • $\begingroup$ Do those "conflicting reports" write about same field: fusion chromosomes in newborns or rearrangements in cancer, or in between species? $\endgroup$
    – pogibas
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 1:49
  • $\begingroup$ @Pgibas they were estimating the odds of the chromosome 2 fusion happening the way it did in newborns today. $\endgroup$
    – user813801
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 6:01
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    $\begingroup$ Robertsonian translocations occur with a frequency of approximately 1 in 1100.. $\endgroup$
    – 5heikki
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 7:00
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    $\begingroup$ Would be good to add the references for the conflicting reports. $\endgroup$
    – Remi.b
    Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:07

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