Sequencing and Analysis of the Hydra Genome
Chapman, Kirkness et al., Nature
An international research collaboration reports their sequencing and analysis of the Hydra magnipapillata genome, and compare it to the genomes of several other organisms. "The Hydra genome has been shaped by bursts of transposable element expansion, horizontal gene transfer, trans-splicing, and simplification of gene structure and gene content that parallel simplification of the Hydra life cycle," the authors write. They team suggests that comparisons of the Hydra genome to the reported sequences of other animals have helped them to elucidate the evolution of several of the organism's characteristics.
Extinct May No Longer Mean Forever
January 13, 2009
An international team of scientists has sequenced the DNA of two extinct Tasmanian "tigers," finding that the two animals were extremely similar to each other with only five differences in 15,492 nucleotides. Their findings suggest that the Australian marsupials, which looked like dogs but were evolutionarily more closely related to kangaroos and koalas, died out about 70 years ago because they may have become too inbred to survive. "Our goal is to learn how to prevent endangered species from going extinct," says co-author Web Miller, in a BBC story.
