Cinnamon cat entered the history of science

Cinnamon, a 4-year-old cat, has entered the history of science after American scientists decoded about 95% of its DNA, contributing to finding therapies for treating cats and possibly for humans. .

Named Cinnamon , the Abyssinian breed in Columbia, USA, was included in the list of genetically engineered mammal species , including humans, chimpanzees, dogs, mice, cows, etc.

Why do scientists need to decode the DNA (the basic constituent of the genetic cell) of the cat? That's because they have more than 200 diseases that are similar to human diseases. Therefore, knowing their genetic structure will help find new vaccines and therapies to treat their diseases and for humans as well.

According to lead researcher Dr Stephen J. O'Brien, of the National Cancer Institute, there are similarities between cats and humans, including AIDS, SARS, diabetes, retinopathy, and cracking. vertebrae, etc.

American scientists have decoded 95% of Cinnamon's genome.(Photo: AFP)

The entire detail of an organism's DNA is called the genome. In cats, as in humans, the genome has nearly 3 billion structural blocks. The chain of these blocks contains important genetic information - like a series of letters to form a complete sentence.

Decoding a set of genes, ie sequencing DNA, will help identify the sequence of those structures. The cat genome decoding work has just been published in the November issue of Genome Research. Currently, the team has identified 20,285 genes in cats, about 95% of its genes . Mr. O'Brien said the full DNA decoding of cats is being done and will be completed next year.

Vinh Tho