Genome Digest

What researchers are learning as they sequence, map, and decode species’ genomes

Written byAbby Olena, PhD

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FLICKR, MIKE BAIRD

Species: Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
Genome size: ~2.5 billion base pairs

A team of international researchers has collaborated to sequence the genome of the minke whale. The work was published last year (November 24) in Nature Genetics.

The researchers extracted DNA from male minke whale muscle to create a reference genome, and also sequenced the complete genomes of three other individuals. Altogether, they found 20,605 genes and 2,598 noncoding RNAs in the minke whale genome. The researchers also identified 494 gene families specific to the minke whale, including gene families necessary for coping with stress. One type of stress that cetaceans regularly encounter is hypoxia, which occurs during deep dives, and the minke whale genome revealed several genes specifically related to managing it. The researchers ...

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Meet the Author

Abby Olena, PhD
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As a freelancer for The Scientist, Abby reports on new developments in life science for the website. She has a PhD from Vanderbilt University and got her start in science journalism as the Chicago Tribune’s AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2013. Following a stint as an intern for The Scientist, Abby was a postdoc in science communication at Duke University, where she developed and taught courses to help scientists share their research. In addition to her work as a science journalist, she leads science writing and communication workshops and co-produces a conversational podcast. She is based in Alabama.
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