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Dog Genome Complete
Dog Genome Complete
Dog Genome Now Available to Research Community Worldwide
by Steve Johnson, staff
July 29, 2004
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced
earlier this month that it has completed its first draft of
the dog genome sequence and has deposited it into free public
databases for use by biomedical and veterinary researchers
around the globe.
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| Tasha, a boxer, provided the DNA for
the genome project |
The NHGRI is an arm of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), which itself is a branch of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
A team led by Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Ph.D., of the Broad Institute
of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Mass., and Agencourt Bioscience
Corp., Beverly, Mass., successfully assembled the genome of
the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). A sample of DNA was provided
by Tasha, a boxer. The boxer breed was chosen after analyses
of 60 dog breeds found it was one of the breeds with the least
amount of variation in its genome and therefore likely to
provide the most reliable reference genome sequence.
The dog genome is similar in size to the genomes of humans
and other mammals. Many types of dogs are prone to genetic
diseases, which the use of the genome will aid in research
for cures. In addition, the NHGRI plans to compare the dog
genome with that of the human genome, and suggests that similarities
between the two could be used to study the genetics of behavior
and could aid pharmaceutical research.
To best characterize disease in dogs, the NHGRI felt it was
also important to have a sufficient number of markers in the
genome. Therefore, in addition to the boxer, nine other dog
breeds, four wolves and a coyote were sampled to generate
markers that can be used in disease studies in any dog breed.
Sequencing of the dog genome began in June 2003. NHGRI provided
about $30 million in funding for the project to the Broad
Institute, which is part of NHGRI's Large-Scale Sequencing
Research Network.
For more information on the Dog Genome, and links to the
genome data, visit the full press release here: http://www.genome.gov/12511476
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