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Researchers have mapped and published the genomes of 51 species of animals, including fish-eating crocodiles known as gharials.Gavialis gangeticus) ferocious cloud leopard (Neofelis Nebrosa). These genetic blueprints could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of human history, especially our evolutionary history, according to a paper published January 26 in the same journal. nature biotechnology.
“In a sense, we are building an evolutionary time machine,” study co-authors said. Michael Schatzsaid Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Biology at Johns Hopkins University. statement. “Mapping the genes of our evolutionary relatives can help us better understand ourselves.”
All mammals share a common ancestor, and many scientists believe that. Morganucodona small shrew-like creature that lived over 200 million years ago. Some say otherwise. In any case, this common ancestry means that much of our genetic structure is similar to that of other mammals, especially chimpanzees, who account for up to 99% of our DNA. I’m sharing it. By comparing the DNA of humans and other animals, researchers can learn when and how humans diverged from other species.
Related: First ‘gapless’ human genome finally sequenced
But a single vertebrate genome can be billions of characters long, and researchers use a variety of tools to piece together this genetic material before piecing it together into a complete picture. must be divided into chunks. As a result, mapping the genome has historically been a painstaking process. It took him 13 years, starting in 1990, before researchers created humanity’s first genetic blueprint.
But DNA mapping technology for various species has advanced rapidly over the past few decades, and this new project takes a new step forward, reducing sequencing times from years and months to just a few days. To do.
To do this, the team drew on research from two projects: the Vertebrate Genome Project and the European Reference Genome Atlas. From these, they developed algorithms and computer software to assemble short gene segments to create a complete genetic map, and ultimately tested how well their workflow could reproduce the complete zebra finch genome. did (Teniopygia guttata) was previously published.
The research team found that the new technology was more effective than existing approaches in reconstructing segments of the genome to create accurate maps. Their software is open source and available online at: galaxya free web-based platform based at Johns Hopkins University and Pennsylvania State University.
“I think my first thought was, wow, they really made this.” eleanor carlson“We’re trying to figure out what’s going on,” the director of the Broad Institute’s Vertebrate Genomics Group and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who was not involved in the study, told Live Science. “To actually see that not only were they able to come up with a system that seems to work well across a fairly diverse range of species, but they did it on a platform that’s committed to open science and sharing workflows. is truly amazing.”
In the paper, the researchers focused only on vertebrates, noting that other animal, plant and fungal species may have “something distinctive or unique in their genomes.” , this “means some of the processes in this pipeline are not functioning properly.” Well, that sort of thing,” Carlson said.
But the paper says this could be fixed “by changing some parameters” of their technique. The researchers’ goal is to sequence the genome of at least one species across all 275 vertebrate orders.
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