Rat genome unveiled

April 2, 2004 | Source: Nature Science Update

The Rat Genome Sequencing Consortium has sequenced the complete rat genome, about 25,000 genes.

Around 90% of these have matches in the mouse and man, so almost all known disease-related human genes have counterparts in the rat. By tweaking these, researchers should be able to make better rat models of disease.

Knowledge of their genome should also provide new targets for drug intervention.

Rat Genome Sequencing Consortium. Nature, 428, 493 – 521, doi:10.1038/nature02426 (2004)