Posted on July 21, 2009 by BioJobBlogger

Update: Chinese Researchers Finish Sequencing the Giant Panda Genome

China's Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen announced that it has mapped the entire genetic code for the giant panda using DNA sequencing and analysis equipment from San Diego-based Illumina. The project began in mid 2008 and was completed by Jan.2009.

The panda at the center of this discovery is Jingjing, who lives in China's Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center and was the mascot for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The genetic information from Jingjing is expected to be complemented in the future with genetic information from other pandas.

Scientists hope to use the data from the sequencing project to better understand panda biology and reproduction. Giant pandas are difficult to breed in captivity and are currently on the endangered species list.

In China, the panda's genome sequencing was ranked by the Chinese government as one of the top 10 technology achievements of the year, right up there with the nation's space shuttle and the completion of the Tibetan railway.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

 

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Posted on April 24, 2009 by BioJobBlogger

A Big MOOve--The Cow Genome is Sequenced

The long sought after cow genome has been sequenced. Heralded as a milestone in animal genetics, unraveling the cow genome will provide scientists with “tantalizing clues to explain the essence of bovinity.” Two papers describing the results of the project will appear in today's issue of the journal Science. 

The cow who donated its DNA for sequencing was a Hereford named LI Dominette 01449 and is one of the estimated 94 million bovines in the US. The project, led by researchers at National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was a gargantuan effort that spanned six years and involved more than 300 scientists from 25 countries and cost only $53 million. Based on sequence analyses, cows haver 22,000 genes as compared with 20,000 to 25,000 for humans. Some of the other findings include: 

  • Cattle and humans have about 80 percent of their genes in common

  • The organization of human chromosomes is closer to that of domestic cattle than to those of rats or mice, which are often used in lab tests of drugs intended for people.

  • Cattle chromosomes, like those of humans and other mammals, contain segmental duplications, which are large, almost identical copies of DNA present in at least two locations in a genome.

  • In domestic cattle, there are duplications related to immunity, metabolism, digestion, reproduction and lactation. Such duplications in humans have been related to a variety of disorders.

Researchers hope that elucidating the bovine genome will help them find ways to improve milk and meat production, develop new strategies to treat and prevent diseases and to reduce the carbon foot print of cows that release large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Great news to receive on National DNA Day! 

Science rocks.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

 

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Posted on June 30, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

Sequencing the "Chocolate" (Cocoa) Genome

In case you didn’t know, chocolate is big business. Do you know of anybody who doesn’t like to snack on a piece of chocolate from time to time? Because of the growing incidence of tropical diseases, pests and global climate change, Mars, the giant candy maker (M&Ms, Snickers), announced that it will sequence and analyze the cocoa genome (cocoa is the key ingredient in chocolate) to “to discover genetic building blocks of traits like disease and pest resistance, drought tolerance and perhaps flavor.” The likely long term goals of the project are to identify ways reduce cultivation costs and increase crop yields.

Another reason why Mars is keen on the project (at least according to the corporate press release) is to protect the livelihood of more than 6.5 million cocoa growers, mostly family-run farms,70% of which are in Africa. 

Mars is working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA, sequencing) and IBM (data analysis) on the project. The results of the research will be free through the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture.

I hope that the cocoa genome project is successful. What would the world be like without a copious supply of chocolate?????

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!

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