Cinnamon, no not the food, but the cat from Missouri, has just been helped cats become added to the 2 dozen mammals whose DNA has been almost completely decoded.
Why is this important? Simple. The National Cancer Institute claims that cats have over 200 hundred sicknesses that can be compared to human illnesses, including AIDS, SARS, and Diabetes. Now that scientist can tell how cells are affected in cats, it may be easier to cure the disease in the mammal. If that does happen, the same or similar procedure can be done with humans.
According the AP article by Malcolm Ritter, “The new work identified 20,285 genes in the cat, probably about 95 percent of the animal’s full complement, O’Brien said. That’s similar to the 20,000-25,000 genes estimated for humans.”
The AP did not make clear how researchers experiment on cats DNA, but since Cinnamon is alive and well, it does not seem that it is harmful. And if they are looking for a cure in both felons and humans, I doubt that they want to harm the cats.
Lets hope that felons, along with the dozens of other animals, can help cure the diseases that are so far incurable.
2 responses so far ↓
L Lewis // Thursday, 1 November 2007 at 5:42 pm
The discovery of FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) led to the development of many cancer drugs being used today. It’s always interesting where scientists find their “cures”.
annmariecostella // Thursday, 6 December 2007 at 12:50 am
Cats. Is there anything they can’t do? From being great pets to helping cure diseases, they are truly amazing creatures. Who says dogs are man’s best friend?