The cow joins the rat, mouse, dog, chimp and humans as the latest animal to have its draft genetic code unveiled. Scientists hope that the achievement will help agricultural researchers improve the health of cattle, as well as the quality of beef and dairy products. The data, which has been deposited into free public databases, will also help genetics researchers learn more about the human genome. A detailed version of the cow genome will be available in 2005, say the researchers, who are based at institutes in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The complete genetic code of the cow (Bos taurus) is made up of around three billion DNA 'letters' (base-pairs) - the same number as humans and other mammals. The $53 million effort to determine the order, or sequence, of these DNA base-pairs was lead by scientists at the US National Human Genome Research Institute. Since the final version of the human genome was published in April 2003, scientists have been studying the genomes of other animals, to help them understand the human genetic code. The complete cow genome could also help researchers fill in some of the last remaining gaps in the human sequence, according to study author Ross Tellman: 'There are still difficulties associated with the human sequence, difficult areas that still need a bit of work', he said.
The bovine genome sequenced in detail is that of a single Hereford cow, but the researchers also plan to do rough versions of other breeds, including the Holstein, Angus, Jersey, Limousin, Norwegian Red and Brahman. 'We should be able to select the best production traits of certain cattle and get rid of those traits or genes we don't want', said Tellman, adding 'those traits could be in terms of disease resistance or weight gain or in a host of other areas'.
Tim Hubbard, of the UK's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said that like dogs, the cow was a good animal model to study because of its long history of breeding by people. 'If you think about the variation in the height of the dog or the variation in milk yields in cows or other factors - the point is you can relate those things which have been bred against the genes underneath', he told BBC News Online.
Sources and References
-
Bovine Genome Assembled
-
Draft of cow 'life code' released
-
Cow gene map released
-
Scientists Create Genetic Map of Cattle
Related Articles
Bizarre platypus genome is decoded
Scientists have decoded the genome of the duck-billed platypus, and discovered that the genetic code is as weird as the animal itself. The findings, reported in the journal Nature, hold invaluable clues for understanding evolution. When the first sample of a platypus arrived in England in 1799...
First monkey genome decoded
US scientists have unveiled a completed version of an entire monkey genome, that of the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). The researchers, based at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and 34 collaborating institutions, hope that their findings will help explain key differences between monkeys...
Chimp genome hope for human diseases
Scientists have unveiled a completed version of the entire chimpanzee genome, after publishing a rough draft in December 2003. The international team, which reported its findings in the latest issue of Nature, says that chimps share 96 per cent of their genetic material with humans. And the DNA that makes...
Of rats, mice and men
The Norway brown rat joins humans and mice as the third mammal to have its entire genetic code unveiled. An international group of scientists has published the draft genome sequence of Rattus norvegicus, in the journal Nature. For years, medical researchers have used the rat in laboratory studies to understand...
Another feather in cap for genome researchers
The chicken has joined humans, chimps, rats and mice as the latest animal to have its genetic code laid bare. Made up of around one billion DNA base-pairs (chemical 'letters'), the chicken genome is a third the size of our own. Researchers at the US National Human Genome Research Institute...
Draft chimp genome unveiled
US scientists have unveiled the entire genetic code of our closest animal relative, the chimpanzee. Teams at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and the Washington University School of Medicine took less than a year to churn through the three billion DNA base-pairs (chemical letters) that make up the...
No more research on 'three-parent embryos'?
Researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China have succeeded in creating a pregnancy using an embryo containing the genetic material of three different people. An egg cell taken from one woman was fertilised by in vitro fertilisation (IVF), creating a one-cell embryo, or zygote. The nucleus of the zygote...
Human genome project completed
The final version of the entire human genome sequence was unveiled last week by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, more than two years ahead of schedule. Since the 'rough draft' was published in February 2001, researchers have been proof-reading the sequence, and filling in most of the gaps. A...
Mouse genome is mapped
A trans-Atlantic consortium of laboratories has announced that the mouse is the latest organism to have its genome mapped. Scientists from Canada, the US and the UK say they have a map of 98 percent of the genes in the laboratory mouse and expect to have a complete sequence by...
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.