Platypus looks strange on inside, too
An international scientific team, which announced the first decoding of the platypus genome on Wednesday, said the findings provided "many clues to the function and evolution of all mammalian genomes," including that of humans, and should "inspire rapid advances in other investigations of mammalian biology and evolution."
The research is described in today's issue of the journal Nature by a group of almost 100 scientists led by Wesley C. Warren, a geneticist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The single subject of the study was a female platypus named Glennie, a resident of Glenrock Station in New South Wales, Australia, whose DNA was collected and analyzed.
The platypus, native to Australia, is so odd that when the first specimens were sent to Europe in the 19th century, scientists suspected a hoax. It was classified as a mammal, one of only two monotremes (echidna is the other) living today that are offshoots of the main mammalian lineage. The divergence occurred some 166 million years ago from primitive ancestors combining features of both mammals and reptiles.
In their investigation of the platypus genetic blueprint, the scientists found that its genome contains about 18,500 genes, similar to other vertebrates and about two-thirds the size of the human genome. The platypus genome shares 82 percent of its genes with human, mouse, dog, opossum and chicken genomes. Some repeated elements in the genome, the scientists noted, hold hints as to the chronology of changes in the platypus.
Of particular interest, the researchers reported, is that the analysis identified families of genes that link the platypus to reptiles (like those for egg-laying, vision and venom production), as well as to mammals (antibacterial proteins and lactation). The platypus lacks nipples; the young nurse through the abdominal skin.
Richard K. Wilson, director of the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University, said that the comparison of the platypus genes with those of other mammals was the beginning of an examination of how "genes have been conserved throughout evolution."
Recent comments
To be funny, I'd like to say it would taste something like chicken...
mtn boy | May 8, 2008 at 8:42 a.m.
They forgot to ask the most important question: What does it taste...
Eye Dee Ten Tee | May 8, 2008 at 5:07 a.m.
