http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7073194.

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Cat joins exclusive genome club
A pedigree cat called Cinnamon has made scientific history by becoming the first
feline to have its DNA decoded.
The domestic cat now joins the select club of mammals whose genome has been deci
phered - 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 dev
elop retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, also found in humans, whi
ch can lead to blindness.
Earlier this year, with the help of the sequence, scientists found the gene chan
ge, or mutation, that causes the condition in cats.
Analysis of the cat genome sequence could also shed light on everything from evo
lution to the origins of feline domestication, they say.
"We can start to interpret them in terms of one of evolution's special creations
, which is also probably one of the greatest predators that ever lived," said Dr
Stephen O'Brien of the US National Cancer Institute, who spearheaded the projec
t.
Like other mammals, the cat has around 20,000 genes. By comparing its genome - t
he genes that build and maintain the body - to those of other mammals, researche
rs can study differences in biology, evolution and behaviour.
"One thing I'd like to discover is the genes for good behaviour in the cats - th
e genes for domestication, the things that make them not want to kill our childr
en but play with them," he added.
Missing info
Cats are among the 26 mammals chosen by the National Human Genome Research Insti
tute in the US for less complete or "light" genome sequencing.
Scientists use the so-called "shot-gun" sequencing method, where DNA is extracte
d, chopped into pieces, sequenced, and then pieced back together again.
It has yielded a rough version of the cat genome, including around 60% of Cinnam
on's DNA "letters" with many gaps in between.
A more complete version, expected next year, will be used to make more detailed
comparisons with other animals.
Findings from the project, which cost more than $2.4 million, are published in t
he journal Genome Research.