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Last Updated: Thursday, 1 November 2007, 15:25 GMT |
Cat joins exclusive genome club | |||||||
The domestic cat now joins the select club of mammals whose genome has been deciphered - including dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and people. The genome map is expected to shed light on both feline and human disease. Cats get hundreds of illnesses similar to human ones, including a feline version of HIV, known as FIV, and a hereditary form of blindness. Cinnamon, a four-year-old Abyssinian cat, is descended from lab cats bred to develop retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, also found in humans, which can lead to blindness. Earlier this year, with the help of the sequence, scientists found the gene change, or mutation, that causes the condition in cats.
Analysis of the cat genome sequence could also shed light on everything from evolution to the origins of feline domestication, they say. "We can start to interpret them in terms of one of evolution's special ever lived," said Dr Stephen O'Brien of the US National Cancer Institute, who spearheaded the project. Like other mammals, the cat has around 20,000 genes. By comparing its genome - the genes that build and maintain the body - to those of other mammals, researchers can study differences in biology, evolution and behaviour. "One thing I'd like to discover is the genes for good behaviour in the cats - the genes for domestication, the things that make them not want to kill our children but play with them," he added
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A boy playing with matches started a Southern California wildfire that scorched more than 38,000 acres, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.
A firefighter talks on a radio while battling the Buckweed blaze on October 22.
The Buckweed Fire, which destroyed 21 homes on its rampage, began October 21 in the Agua Dulce community.
"Our arson explosive detectives, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Fire Department investigators, immediately began their investigation, and during the course of the investigation, it led to a juvenile suspect," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Tony Moore told CNN's "American Morning" Wednesday.
"After talking with that juvenile, he admitted to playing with matches, and accidentally starting the fire in that area," he said. Watch what's next for young suspect »
The boy, whose name and age were not given, is home with his parents, police said. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County district attorney for possible charges.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Buckweed Fire burned 38,526 acres.
Sixty-three structures, 21 of them homes, were destroyed, and three civilians and two firefighters were injured.