SINGAPORE - Scientists have completed a
rough draft of the genome of the Japanese puffer fish, a step
the researchers say will accelerate discovery of human genes.
The puffer fish, or Fugu rubripes, is an ideal
candidate for genome research because its genetic code is
so short. Although it contains many of the same genes that
the human genome has, it's only about one eighth the length.
Because it doesn't have as much so-called junk
DNA, repeating sequences that aren't involved in making proteins,
the researchers say it'll be easier to isolate genes from
the puffer fish genome.
That could settle the question of how many
genes humans have. The current estimate is between 30,000
and 40,000 genes. Fugu has between 35,000 and 40,000.
The Fugu puffer fish is a delicacy in Japan,
but a naturally occurring neurotoxin can make the fish deadly
if prepared improperly.
The fish can puff themselves up into a spiky
ball three times their normal size if they are threatened.
Even though the most recent common ancestor
of puffer fish and humans lived over 450 million years ago,
it is believed they share many genetic control sequences.
These parts of the genome control how genes
are expressed and are believed to be crucial to all vertebrate
The group responsible for the work, based in
Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, will
publish an analysis of the genome next year and the sequence
data will be publicly available.