The largest database
The new reference genome of the macaque will help in the fight against human diseases
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
Rhesus macaque is one of the most useful model animals from the point of view of medicine and neurobiology. Scientists from the United States engaged in a project to sequence the genome of these monkeys have identified over 85 million genetic variants, obtaining the largest database for non-human primates to date. The database will allow us to better study the causes of hereditary diseases in people, including autism and congenital blindness.
A team of geneticists from Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Missouri and The University of Washington applied a combination of advanced technologies in order to improve the reference genome library of rhesus macaques, first created in 2007. The new collection of more than 85 million genetic variants provides a more complete and accurate picture of the DNA of these animals and allows for a more complex and detailed analysis of the fundamental problems of molecular genetics, cell biology and physiology.
Article by Warren et al. Sequence diversity analyses of an improved rhesus macaque genome enhance its biomedical utility is published in the journal Science – VM.
"This is an important step forward in the amount of information we have collected about the genetic variability of rhesus monkeys," said Jeffrey Rogers, professor at the Center for Human Genome Sequencing at Baylor College of Medicine. – We have identified thousands of new mutations in the population of these animals. Now colleagues from all over the country who study various aspects of health and diseases with the help of rhesus monkeys can use this information."
Researchers sequenced the genomes of 853 rhesus monkeys from scientific institutes in the United States and compared them with a new reference genome, writes a press release New mammalian reference genome helps ID genetic variants for human health. The analysis showed that these primates have more genetic variants than humans. Among the millions of identified genetic variants, scientists have found several harmful mutations in genes that cause hereditary diseases in humans – such as autism, congenital blindness and others.
In addition to the medical significance, the appearance of the updated reference genome of rhesus monkeys will allow primatologists and biologists to make new discoveries in the evolution of non-human primates and humans.
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