( close cousin to the human immunodefici...)NHGRI announces latest sequencing targets

close cousin to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the rhesus is widely recognized as the best animal model for research on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. It also serves as a valuable model for studying other human infectious diseases and for vaccine research, most recently for the virus causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

Comparing the human genome with the genomes of other non-human primates and other organisms has been shown to be an effective tool for identifying the function and structure of genes. Most sections of the human genome originated long before humans themselves. Consequently, scientists can use genome sequences of strategically selected organisms to learn more about how, when and why the genomes of humans and other mammals came to be composed of certain DNA sequences.

The latest sequencing plan, which includes the gibbon, was recently approved by the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, a federally chartered committee that advises NHGRI on program priorities and goals. It also consists of a set of organisms whose genome sequence will add to the comprehensive strategic list of priority targets for genomic sequencing by the NHGRI's Large-Scale Sequencing program.

Seven mammals which have been previously approved to be sequenced at low-density genome coverage have been targeted to now be sequenced at high-density genome coverage. The refined genome sequences will improve the accuracy of comparisons between mammalian genomes, one of the most effective ways to pinpoint the roughly 5 percent of the 3-billion base pair human genome that is most obviously functional.

The seven mammals to be sequenced are: the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus); domestic cat (Felis catus); guinea pig (Cavia porcellus); African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana); tree shrew (Tupaia species); rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus);
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Source:NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

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