Genome Digest

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

Written byCatherine Offord
| 7 min read

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Species: Okapi johnstoni and Giraffa camelopardalis
Genome size: 3.3 billion and 2.9 billion bases, respectively

The genomes of the only two extant members of the Giraffidae family—the okapi (Okapi johnstoni) and the giraffe (subspecies Giraffa camelopardalis, tippelskirchi)—have been sequenced for the first time, according to a paper published today (May 17) in Nature Communications. The sequences are likely to help explain the giraffe’s unique look .

“Through comparative analysis with other eutherians mammals, 70 genes were identified that exhibit multiple signs of adaptation in giraffe,” the authors wrote in their paper. “Several of these genes encode well-known regulators of skeletal, cardiovascular and neural development, and are likely to contribute to giraffe’s unique characteristics.”

By aligning the new sequences to known sequences in cattle (Bos taurus), the team of researchers from Tanzania, Kenya, the U.K., and the U.S. came up with a list of 17,210 giraffe and 17,048 okapi genes. Comparing ...

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Meet the Author

  • After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.

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