There's an effort underway to raise some $16,000 to sequence the genomes of three Manx cats, according to IOM Today. An Isle of Man researcher, it notes, is donating her time to lead the project and analyze the data generated.
IOM Today adds that the project seeks to determine what makes the Manx breed unique as well as to better understand Manx syndrome, a condition marked by incontinence and spina bifida, that affects some cats. Sequencing, it notes, will take place at the University of Missouri.
Donors to the project may also enter their cat into the selection process to be among those sequenced.
'This is a great opportunity for everyone on the Isle of Man to play a part in the island's first genome project and a world first for the Manx cat," Rachel Glover, the researcher leading the project, says.