Dog genome published

This is great! The genome sequence will be very useful in the growing field of comparative genomics. The ability to compare vertebrate genomes will facilitate the identification of genes that may provide explanations for the vast range of mammalian variation (not just dogs, but all vertebrates) and help us to better understand the genetic basis of diseases common to both human and dog.

The breed of dog chosen for the genome project is the boxer because it is one of the breeds with the least amount of variation in its genome and therefore is likely to give an easily assembled genome sequence. The Whitehead Genome Center sequenced the genome of Tasha, a female boxer.

<img src="http://www.broad.mit.edu/media/images/tasha_lg.jpg">
-- Tasha<P>
 
spuriousmonkey said:
....I have no use for it.
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Neither do I, but then again my field is not genomics. From your response I would hazzard a guess that it's not your field either.<P>
 
Hey that's exciting! At this pace we will have the entire map of life on earth by......
...
errr.... the year 496239657499837.... :bugeye: :p

Yaba Daba! :m:
 
TruthSeeker said:
Hey that's exciting! At this pace we will have the entire map of life on earth by.........errr.... the year 496239657499837....
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Every genome they map goes significantly faster than the previous one. It's all a matter of computing power, which doubles every couple of years. You younger people will live to see most species mapped.

BTW, it was the early findings of this DNA analysis which determined that dogs and wolves are a single species. Wolf DNA is closer to that of a mongrel dog than two of the oldest breeds, such as Lhasa Apsos and mastiffs, are to each other.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
Every genome they map goes significantly faster than the previous one. It's all a matter of computing power, which doubles every couple of years. You younger people will live to see most species mapped.
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Some anal retentive nitpicking (my apologies):

I still remember doing sequencing by hand. Run a gel. Read the sequence off the gel and type it in the computer. That took a few days to elucidate a sequence of 150 basepairs or so. Ah...the good old days. They have automated sequencers now. It's not just computer power.

I'm doubtful that anyone will see the sequencing of most species happen. We aren't even sure how many species there are. Certainly not all have even been scientifically described.

I thought the following quote was illustrative of this problem:
Surprisingly, scientists have a better understanding of how many stars there are in the galaxy than how many species there are on Earth. Estimates of global species diversity have varied from 2 million to 100 million species, with a best estimate of somewhere near 10 million, and only 1.4 million have actually been named. The problems stemming from the limits of current knowledge of species diversity are compounded by the lack of a central database or list of the world's species.
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spuriousmonkey said:
I'm doubtful that anyone will see the sequencing of most species happen. We aren't even sure how many species there are. Certainly not all have even been scientifically described.
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Don't worry. Help is at hand. We are eliminating species at an accelerating rate. By mid-century there will only be a handfull left to sequence.
 
This is an important breakthrough - much more comprehensive than the mapping of the canine genome in 2003. It has implications to solving many of the same diseases and genetic abnormalities that affect humans. Now they can find genetic markers for familial disorders in canines that may apply to the same abnormalities in humans, before birth. Then parents could tell if their child may or maynot have a genetically inherited abnormality or disease. Personally, I am especially elated by this news because I contributed $500 to this AKC Canine Health Foundation research fund just 6 months ago.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
Every genome they map goes significantly faster than the previous one. It's all a matter of computing power, which doubles every couple of years.
Click to expand...
An the soon to be quantum computer and evolving AI! Yaih!!!

You younger people will live to see most species mapped.
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Yeeeeeehhh!!!

Party time!!
*starts dancing*

Yaba Daba! :m:
 
spuriousmonkey said:
I'm doubtful that anyone will see the sequencing of most species happen. We aren't even sure how many species there are. Certainly not all have even been scientifically described.
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I read in a magazine that some people are trying to find DNA in the air, ocean and the ground- and they are finding life that was never known before!!!
 
I heard about a guy that went deep into the Aussie outback a few years ago, and discovered a couple of dozen new species in one trip. I can't remember the details, but the fact is a fair bit of the earth hasn't really been explored and catalogued much yet.
 
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