ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) — The availability of
a reference genome for a species is extremely important in the deeper
understanding of its biology and evolution, and today marks the publication of
two studies involving researchers from the BGI on the whole-genome sequencing,
analysis and production of high quality reference genomes for the pig in the
journals Nature and GigaScience (a BGI and BioMed Central
journal).
The Nature study
from the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium presents the reference genome of a
breed of pig that is an economically important food source, and the GigaScience study, led by
researchers from the BGI, Beijing Institute of Animal Science (IAS) and Chinese
Academy of Agriculture Science (CAAS), focuses on a miniature pig used for
medical research.
The Nature study
includes the additional genomes of a number of European and Asian wild and
domesticated swine species, and also released today is a series of accompanying
articles covering pig genome structure and function, genome annotation, and
findings of biomedical relevance in a number of BioMed Central journals.
Pigs
are one of the oldest domesticated livestock species, and as well as providing
one of the largest sources of meat worldwide, also provide important medical
industrial resources, such as pharmaceutical-grade heparin and heart valves for
xenotrans plantation. The pig shares many of the same complex genetic diseases
as humans, making them excellent models for studying the underlying biology of
human disease.
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