95% of Cat's Genome Decoded
Researchers in Missouri have largely decoded a cat's DNA. This now adds cats to a large list of mammals whose DNA has been decoded. A list that includes chimps, dogs, rats, and humans. The decoding of the felines DNA is of great importance due to the fact that cats get a large amount of roughly two hundred diseases that are similar to those found in humans. Knowing the cat's DNA could help scientists to develop new vaccines to prevent infections from such diseases. The list includes a cat's version of AIDS and diabetes. This work is still ongoing and more of the cat's DNA should soon be mapped. So far much of this work could be seen as a mere outline that has great potential to be beneficial when comparing different species. The genome of the cat is made up of roughly 3 billion building blocks. As of right now 20,285 genes have been decoded, this amounts to roughly 95% of the entire genome.
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Bruno Karam (6)
posted by PWH @ 8:58 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
You picked a very interesting topic and for the most part are clear. I only have one area of confusion to ask you about:
You noted that felines were added on to the list along with humans (and other animals) but then you say that the reason finding the cat's genome is helpful is because they get diseases that humans get. But...If we already mapped out the human genome (you made it sound like that the beginning) then why do we need the cats?
I realize that human DNA has not been completely figured out so maybe you just want to make that clear in the beginning.
Overall, you did a good job and picked a really interesting topic.
Posted By: Natalie Nicholson (above- I forgot to write my name)
This is interesting because decoding the genes of any animal can lead to advancements in treating the various illnesses of the animal. I wonder why they chose this cat in particular. Also it is unclear which breed of feline was used without reading the article, so maybe stating that might help. Otherwise very interesting article!
amolina (6)
This is a very interesting article. I never knew that cats were able to get similar diseases as humans such as the cat version of AIDS and Diabetes. The advancement of technology has enabled us to do many things, but do you think that being able to decode a cat's genome will be able to help scientists come up with vaccines that will also be able to treat human patients with these diseases? I am just asking, because by comparing the diseases that cats and humans get, you make it sound as if their similarities can help human vacines to be discovered. Other than that I think it is a very well written article that I wish to learn more about when new details become available to the public.
Published by Vanessa Raphael (6)
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