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To: E. Charters who wrote (91629)	12/5/2002 3:27:43 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116795

<<I am coining pollyanic hysteristoid as a person>> I hope you plan on coining it in gold so as to increase demand.

To: E. Charters who wrote (91629)	12/6/2002 9:46:05 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116795

Mice and Man The new draft genome of the rodent shows that the two are not so different after all IT HAS been squeaking around us for millennia, regarded as a disease-spreading pest or a powerful scientific tool. Now the common laboratory mouse, Mus musculus, is showing us what it is made of. A group of scientists announced in the journal Nature yesterday that they have completed a sophisticated draft of the mouse genome, and have published their first detailed comparison of the genetic codes of mouse and man. Scientists heralded the advance as every bit as important as the decoding of the human genome, because of the mouse's critical role in biomedical research. About 25 million mice are used each day in research. As it turns out, mice and humans are not that different. Both species have about 30,000 genes, although the full mouse genome is about 15 per cent smaller. Very few of the genes - less than 1 per cent - are unique to either species. Human beings even possess the same set of mouse genes that direct the formation of a tail. The mouse genome adds an important set of data to the near-completed human genome and the genomes of other key research species, such as yeast, fruit flies and roundworms. Scientists say it will ease the ability to tackle medically important questions such as how bodies are built, how they decay and die, how diseases are caused and how to prevent or cure them. The advance is also crucial because having a blueprint from another mammal helps scientists extract meaning from the human genome's vast code. By directly comparing these two genomes, scientists can deduce which parts are important and which are seemingly useless filler that can mutate and change at will. The sequencing of the mouse genome was conducted by scientists of the Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium at the Whitehead Institute/MIT Centre for Genome Research, Washington University in St Louis, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton, England. Researchers from 21 institutes around the world contributed to the analysis. The draft sequence covers 96 per cent of the genome. Full completion is expected in the next few years. A private company, Celera Genomics, has offered a different mouse genome sequence for a fee since 2001. But the availability now of a free version that can be accessed on the Web is a treasure trove for research. The mouse genome has helped scientists identify 1,200 new human genes - and 9,000 new mouse genes. While the genes - the key strings of DNA that direct the formation and functioning of organisms - are largely the same in both species, the mouse has greater numbers of certain types, particularly those that are involved with smell, reproduction and processing certain toxins. Scientists are particularly enthralled by the finding that far more than just the genes appear to be closely conserved between mouse and human. The actual genes comprise only 1.5 per cent of the genome - the rest consists of DNA that may be unimportant, involved in turning the genes on and off or serving some other function. But 5 per cent of the genome has been closely preserved for 75 million years, the time when mouse and human split off from their last common ancestor. This percentage of preserved information suggests that far more than just the genes are important. 'Mice have taught us most of what we know about disease,' said Dr Jake Lusis, a University of California at Los Angeles professor of human genetics and microbiology, who uses mice to study heart disease and diabetes. With the genome in hand, such findings are expected to come at a much faster pace. For example, in two papers accompanying yesterday's release, scientists used the mouse genome to probe genes connected with Down's syndrome. --Los Angeles Times straitstimes.asia1.com.sg ----------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: Important questions SCIENTISTS say the mouse genome will ease the ability to tackle medically important or just plain fascinating questions such as how bodies are built, how they decay and die, how diseases are caused and how to prevent or cure them. Also, by directly comparing these mouse and human genomes, scientists can deduce which parts are important and which are seemingly useless filler that can mutate and change at will.