Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Scientists have recruited a new ally in their battle to fight disease: domestic moggies. They believe the genetic profiles of cats contain crucial clues about diseases to which humans and felines are both susceptible. These illnesses include diabetes, asthma and some forms of blindness.
To exploit the connection, researchers have launched a genome sequencing project, called 99 Lives, which aims to determine the exact genetic profiles of 99 domestic cats. The results should provide them with data that could generate new medicines for treating both cats and humans for such illnesses, they say. In addition, the project should provide data that will help zoologists track down the evolutionary origins of the domestic cat.
“Until now, genetic research on humans’ companion animals – pets such as dogs, cats and rabbits – has concentrated, almost exclusively, on dogs,” said Stephen O’Brien, a geneticist based at the Theodosius Dobzhansky Centre in St Petersburg.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/24/cat-genes-clues-treatments-asthma-diabetes
To exploit the connection, researchers have launched a genome sequencing project, called 99 Lives, which aims to determine the exact genetic profiles of 99 domestic cats. The results should provide them with data that could generate new medicines for treating both cats and humans for such illnesses, they say. In addition, the project should provide data that will help zoologists track down the evolutionary origins of the domestic cat.
“Until now, genetic research on humans’ companion animals – pets such as dogs, cats and rabbits – has concentrated, almost exclusively, on dogs,” said Stephen O’Brien, a geneticist based at the Theodosius Dobzhansky Centre in St Petersburg.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/24/cat-genes-clues-treatments-asthma-diabetes