January 8, 2007

USDA grants US$10 million to speed up sequencing of pig genome

The USDA has given a US$10-million grant to the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium to accelerate the development of the draft sequence of the pig genome.

The project, carried out by an international coalition of researchers, is expected to improve pork production efficiency, industry growth and reduce pig diseases.

The pig genome would be the first mammalian genome to have a complete physical map before being sequenced.

Previous genome sequencing efforts for other organisms used a whole-genome approach, which is time exhaustive as each genome can contain 30 million sequencing segments.

The consortium had already identified more than 267,000 markers on the genome map, thus simplifying the process as they already knew where most of the segments belonged.

Genomics refers to mapping and sequencinag of the genetic material of a particular species and then associating the genes with the traits they express.

Genomic libraries' allow researchers to decipher the genetic information and associate it with traits.