一个由多国科学家组成的研究小组5月7日报告，他们成功绘出了鸭嘴兽这一奇特的哺乳动物的基因组草图，这对研究人类和其他哺乳动物进化起源“极为重要”。
据最新一期英国《自然》（Nature）杂志报告说，科学家们的测序对象是一只来自澳大利亚的雌性鸭嘴兽，名叫格伦尼。
鸭嘴兽属于半水生、半陆生动物，集“鸭子嘴、水獭脚、海狸尾巴”于一身，而且是为数不多的产蛋而非胎生的哺乳动物之一。（来源：新华网 张忠霞）
（《自然》（Nature），453, 175-183，Wesley C. Warren，Richard K. Wilson）
图片来源：Warrawong Sanctuary
更多阅读（英文）
Genome analysis of the platypus reveals unique signatures of evolution
A list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper
- Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8501, 4444 Forest Park Avenue, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.
- Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
- EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK.
- MRC Functional Genetics Unit, University of Oxford, Department of Human Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK.
- Discipline of Genetics, School of Molecular & Biomedical Science, The University of Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia.
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
- Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
- Cambridge University, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.
- Instituto Universitario de Oncologia, Departamento de Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006-Oviedo, Spain.
- Department of Genome Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia.
- Crown Human Genome Center, Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
- John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
- Institute for Systems Biology, 1441 North 34th Street, Seattle, Washington 98103-8904, USA.
- Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
- Monash Institute of Medical Research, 27–31 Wright Street, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Bio-Modular Multi-Scale Systems, Louisiana State University, 202 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
- Institute of Experimental Pathology, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Strasse 56, D-48149 Muenster, Germany.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA.
- Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3080, Australia.
- CRC for Innovative Dairy Products, Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505, USA.
- MPI Molecular Genetics, D-14195 Berlin-Dahlem, Ihnestrasse 73, Germany.
- Sperling Foundation, Eugene, Oregon 97405, USA.
- Courant Institute, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA.
- Discipline of Biological Sciences, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
- UMR INRA-CNRS 6073, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Nouzilly 37380, France.
- Laboratory for Pluripotent Cell Studies, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB), 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 6500047, Japan.
- Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University, 226 Atanasoff Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.