Assignment of human MYCN proto-oncogene to chromosome band 12q24 in higher primates

Controversies concerning the reduction of chromosome number from 48 to 46 in humans by putative fusion of two ape chromosomes still persist. Nevertheless, abundant evidence suggests that human chromosome 2 was derived by fusion. Consequently, the recent availability of the human MYCN gene probe which was localized to 2p24.3 facilitated our search for its location in the human equivalent chromosome(s) of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). In all three species, the human MYCN gene was localized to the long arm of chromosome 12 band 12q24 which is the corresponding band equivalent of the short arm of human chromosome 2. The conservation of MYCN gene in higher primates at the equivalent chromosome locus that corresponds to that of the human provides additional prevailing view towards tracing the evolutionary pathways concerning the origin of chromosome 2, though we recognize that there are conceptual problems concerning human descent.