Oh, those sneaky felines! First, they take over the internet, then, (let's admit) our hearts. Now, cats have wiggled their way into genomics, according to Scientific American.
The results of a sequencing attempt were unveiled this week at a meeting in San Diego, Calif. A group of geneticists have started sequencing the genomes of 99 domestic cats in a project they say will benefit both felines and humans.
"It's a great time to be in cat genomics," said William Murphy, a geneticist at Texas A&M University, according to Scientific American. Costs of DNA sequencing have decreased, making it easier to fund genome sequencing endeavors.
"We're finally at the point where we can do all sorts of things we wanted to do 5 or 10 years ago," Murphy said.
The full genome of dogs was published in 2005 and canine diseases and traits have been identified, according to Scientific American, but cats been less popular in the world of genetics. In 2007, the first genome sequence from a cat (an Abyssinian named Cinnamon) was reported but the sequence had many holes and errors. A better sequence of Cinnamon was published in 2014, but only a handful of cat genes have been documented compared to the hundreds identified in dogs.
Why have kitties gotten overlooked? "The truth is there were more powerful people interested in dogs," said Stephen O'Brien, director of the Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics in St. Petersburg, Russia. O'Brien headed the first cat genome effort, according to Scientific American.
There may also have been a more practical reason: dogs and humans share many afflictions, like narcolepsy and arthritis, although knowledge from both canine and feline sequencing could help with diseases associated with old age. The mutations that cause polycystic kidney disease are due to the same gene in both cats and people, according to a 2004 study from the University of Missouri. Cats also suffer afflictions like type 2 diabetes, asthma, retinal atrophy and a virus very similar to HIV.
Leslie Lyons, lead researcher from the 2004 study, started the 99 Lives cat genome sequencing proposal, dubbed "Lyons' Den," according to Scientific America. To sequence the genome of one cat, researchers need $7,500, so Lyons is hoping to get cat owners, breeders, companies or anyone else interested in donating - the donor can even choose the cat. "Any cat can participate. Any owner can participate," Lyons said.
So far, money has been raised for the sequencing of 56 cats. "I would love to eradicate all genetic disease in cat breeds before we're done," Lyons said, according to Scientific American. Persian cats are prone to polycystic kidney disease and since the discovery of the gene that causes the disease, Persians with the gene mutation have been taken out of the breeding pool. Lyons' lab is even developing drugs that could treat the condition in cats (which could mean humans benefit, too).
