How Pacific Chocolate helped scientists decipher the genetic code of koala

What began as a small collaboration between Australians has expanded to include researchers from 29 institutions in seven countries for a complex project equated with an encyclopedia, throwing pieces on the ground and rebadembling them in the Order

is slightly larger than the human genome, with a similar number of genes – 26,558. Research to crack it has allowed scientists to develop vaccines to treat chlamydia that has caused blindness and infertility and that koalas are fleeing urine if they are not treated. With clearing, the disease was a major threat to koala populations

"Basically, they are super detoxers that allow them to eat this diet highly specialized, "said Professor Johnson.

The other team leader, Professor Kathy Belov from the Faculty of Science of the University of Sydney. the success of the project would make it possible to better manage koala populations in difficulty.

"In southern populations, you have lots of koalas," she said. "But the problem is that they lack genetic diversity, which is very troubling because these types of populations do not adapt well when there are new threats – new diseases or changes due to climate change, for example.

– in southern Queensland and north of NSW – we have very healthy populations based on their genetics but [they] are now threatened due to urbanization. genetic gives us a lot of power to really manage koalas on a fine scale and I think we have to do that. "

Professor Belov said that a new understanding of how koala milk helps to surviving when they were born could "We studied koalas milk and found more than 850 immune genes," she says, "Some of these genes are completely new and have never been seen in any other species."

The first five of these genes to study show the potential of peptides that could treat multidrug-resistant infections, including staphylococcus aureus in hospitals.

"We see opportunities to commercialize some of these peptides for humans and Professor Belov said," We now have a good amount of data to help develop milk substitutes to feed orphans. "

Jenny Graves, a professor at La Trobe University and a pioneer of koala genetics in the 1980s, said: Understanding all marsupia has been improved by breaking the genome of the koala.

" There seems to be more genes than some other marsupials, "she said." We certainly know that there are more copies of genes that are particularly relevant to the koala, like genes that can break down weeds in gum leaves. "

Additional" odorous "genes allowed koalas to detect eucalyptus leaves Professor Graves said that he lacked a gene

" The koala is l & The cutest animal on the planet, with the exception maybe of pandas. , "she said." So we were always after the "cute" gene Unfortunately there is no such thing. "