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Genome of the mammalian common ancestor reconstructed
Publish Date : 12/1/2004 12:33:00 PM   Source : Health News Onlypunjab.com

Using computer programs,scientists  have
suceeded  in reconstructing the DNA of a creature that  lived  at
the  time  of  the dinosaurs more than 75 million  years  ago,  a
small, furry nocturnal animal that was the common ancestor of all
placental mammals, including humans, with 98 percent accuracy.

Scientists  at  University  of California  have  unravelled  this
ancestral  mammal's complete genome,the sequence of As,  Cs,  Ts,
and Gs in the DNA that made up its chromosomes, which would be  a
great  help  in understanding the evolution of humans  and  other
mammals at the molecular level.

"We  will be able to trace the molecular evolution of our  genome
over  the past 75 million years. It's a very exciting new way  to
think  about  our  origins, a kind of  DNA-based  archaeology  to
understand how we came to be," Haussler, a Howard Hughes  Medical
Institute  (HHMI) investigator and director of UCSC's Center  for
Biomolecular Science and Engineering.

Haussler  added  that  by  comparing  the  human  genome  to  the
ancestral  genome, scientists may learn much more,as compared  to
what the learn by comparisons with other living species, such  as
the mouse, rat, and chimpanzee.

"If we find a DNA sequence in the human genome that is missing in
the  corresponding  place  in the mouse  genome,  we  can't  tell
whether that DNA was inserted in the evolution of humans from the
mammalian  ancestor  or deleted in the evolution of  mice.If  the
ancestral  genome  is available, this ambiguity  disappears,"  he
said.

Living  mammals, from apes to bats to whales, are all  variations
on  a  common mammalian theme and researchers  are  hopeful  that
comparisons  with their common ancestor can reveal  new  insights
into not only the core biology that all mammals share in  common,
but also the unique traits that define each species.(ANI)