The Dynamics of DNA: Cat genome research explained
Presenter: Dr. Leslie Lyons, U of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Health and Reproduction
Cats have a universal reputation for being mysterious creatures. Dr. Leslie Lyons is determined to change that! She is, quite literally, taking a microscopic look at cats... right down to analyzing their DNA.
"Currently, the domestic cat is one of the initial species to have a more in-depth [DNA] sequencing," explains Dr. Lyons. "My research focuses on the development of high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays for the cat, to investigate feline model of inherited traits and diseases."
Last spring, Hill’s Pet Food announced a low coverage, private sequencing project and has donated a large portion of the data to the cat genetics community, along with $1,000,000 to support development of a cat SNP array.
"To date, feline studies have required large-extended families with clearly defined modes of inheritance (MOI)," adds Lyons. "A plethora of diseases exist in cats that have a significantly increased risk in certain breeds or populations, but the MOIs are not well defined. Often, MOIs of more simple diseases are highly suspected, but data has not been collected in an organized manner to document these conditions and would not pass peer-review in scientific journals."
You'll learn more about this fascinating topic at the Summit!
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