Genome Study Shows Close Relation of Man to Mouse

A recent study summarizing the findings obtained from the large-scale comparison of the human genome to 12 other vertebrates confirmed that the human genome is more closely related to that of mice and other rodents than to the genomes of the other animals tested.

Investigators from 10 institutions collaborating under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) compared the human genome to that of the chimpanzee, baboon, cat, dog, cow, pig, rat, mouse, chicken, two species of puffer fish (fugu and tetraodon), and zebrafish. They generated and analyzed over 12 megabases (Mb) of sequence, all derived from the genomic region orthologous to a segment of about 1.8 Mb on human chromosome 7 containing 10 genes, including the gene mutated in cystic fibrosis. The study was published in the August 14, 2003, issue of Nature.

"We already know that genes are very highly conserved across vertebrate species, but what we are finding now is that not only are genes conserved, but other anonymous sequences are conserved as well,” said contributing author Dr. Jeff Touchman, assistant professor of biology at Arizona State University (Tempe, USA; www.asu.edu). "These regions are likely to control important functions such as gene expression.”

"The work provides a first glimpse of the type of genomic studies that will occur in the future as more and more whole genomes are sequenced,” Dr. Touchman said.



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National Institutes of Health
Arizona State University