Australian scientists successfully map the koala genome



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The project, dubbed the Koala Genome Consortium, was released on Monday in "Nature Genetics", detailing how researchers sequenced the complete koala genome with 95.1% accuracy – almost as accurate as the sequenced human genome.

The sequenced genome, which acts like a genetic code or map, provides a wealth of new information, say the researchers.

They now understand how koalas can eat highly toxic eucalyptus leaves, how koala joeys are born without an immune system, and how the koalas produce milk that changes composition as they grow.

  A wild koala in Victoria, Australia

This genetics information gives researchers the hope that they can develop a vaccine against chlamydia, which caused the disease. infertility and blindness among koalas across New South Wales and Queensland.

Another great threat is consanguinity. As koala habitats have been destroyed over the years, there has been a decrease in "habitat connectivity" and increased inbreeding, leading to lower genetic diversity in koala populations [19659003] Protecting the habitat, reducing collisions with vehicles, dog attacks and diseases are the keys to the long-term survival of the koala, "said Rebecca Johnson, director of the Australian Museum Research Institute, one of the leading researchers. the following efforts must be made to genetically apply koala populations, advance the treatment of diseases affecting koalas, in order to conserve this very important species. "

Koala populations have fallen since European colonization, and although they are recovering slowly in some Australian states, they are still considered" vulnerable "by the Australian government.

There is also the possibility that future marsupial genomic studies "could be used for human health," said Graham Etherington researcher of the Earlham Institute in a statement

  Kathy Belov and Rebecca Johnson, are scientists and professors at the University

The team consisted of 54 scientists from 29 institutions from seven countries They started working in 2013.

Using supercomputers and new technologies at the University of New South Wales South in Sydney, the team sequenced more than 20,000 genes, which they then assembled into a complete genome.

available to scientists around the world, and has been put in public databases.

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