The KanGO project is using the DNA of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) as its chosen representative of the kangaroo family. It is the first Australian marsupial to be sequenced.
Credit: ANU
The power of differences
Part of the race to sequence the genomes of a variety of mammals and other animals is driven by the value of comparing genomes, particularly the genomes of distantly related species, to reveal hidden details about the human genome.
Frank Grützner, a University of Adelaide geneticist who worked on the recent platypus genome sequence, said that the completion of the first phase of the kangaroo genome "highlights what a treasure trove Australia is for studying isolated genetic material."
The first marsupial genome to be published was the American opossum in 2007. Last year an international team including Australians released the platypus genome, the first monotreme to be sequenced (see, The platypus unravelled, Cosmos Online).
The KanGO project is using the DNA of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) as its chosen representative of the kangaroo family, it is the first Australian marsupial to be sequenced.
