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Scientists Sink Claws Into Cat DNA

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2007

Updated: 11/01/2007 12:55 am

NEW YORK - An Abyssinian cat from Missouri, named Cinnamon, has just made scientific history. Researchers have largely decoded her DNA, a step that may aid the search for treatments for feline and human diseases.

The report adds cats to the roughly two dozen mammals whose DNA has been unraveled, a list that includes dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and of course, people.

Why add cats? They get more than 200 diseases that resemble human illnesses, and knowing the details of their genetic makeup should help in the search for vaccines and treatments, researchers say. The list includes a cat version of AIDS, SARS, diabetes, retinal disease and spina bifida, said Stephen J. O'Brien of the National Cancer Institute.

The new work is reported in this month's issue of the journal Genome Research by a team including O'Brien and colleague Joan Pontius. It covers about two-thirds of the DNA of Cinnamon, a research cat who lives at the University of Missouri in Columbia; more complete results are expected next year, O'Brien said.

The Associated Press

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