A trans-Atlantic consortium of laboratories has announced that the mouse is the latest organism to have its genome mapped. Scientists from Canada, the US and the UK say they have a map of 98 percent of the genes in the laboratory mouse and expect to have a complete sequence by 2005.
The mouse is a long-standing research model for human disease as it shared a common ancestor about 100 million years ago and, as a result, has many genes in common with humans. 'The mouse is one of the most important animal models for studying cancer and many other human diseases,' said Dr Marco Marra, director of the Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver.
Work in the sequencing of the human genome has served to accelerate work on the mouse genome. Dr David Bentley, of the Sanger Centre in Cambridge, hopes this approach will assist research into the genomes of other mammals.
Sources and References
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Mouse DNA map speeds drug tests
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International team maps mouse genome
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Uncovering the shared links of mice and men
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