Mouse genome sequence draft published 5/12/02. By The Public Health Genetics Unit An international consortium has published a draft sequence and analysis of the genome of the common mouse, Mus musculus.

The sequence and analysis of more than 95 per cent of the mouse genome was published in the 5 December issue of the journal Nature. In addition to revealing 9000 new mouse genes, the research has identified 1200 new human genes.

For many years the mouse has been the main mammalian model used in genetic and biomedical research: in a commentary article in the same issue of Nature as the paper reporting the genome sequence, Allan Bradley, head of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, notes that "detailed analysis of organs tissues and cells reveals many similarities [with humans], extending to whole-organ systems, physiological homeostasis, reproduction, behaviour and disease."

The similarities between the mouse and human genomes have been known for some time but are highlighted by the detailed comparative analysis that is possible now that the full sequences of both are available. This analysis shows that, of about 30 000 genes in each organism, all but about 300 are shared. Among the differences described in the papers is the finding that mice have many more genes involved in smell and mating behaviour than humans (pheromones affecting mating choice, some of which are present in urine, and genes responding to sex hormones are more plentiful in mice than men).

Systematic work is already underway to determine the functions and expression patterns of every mouse gene. The extensive genomic similarity between mouse and human, combined with the ease of genetic manipulation in the mouse, make it an invaluable experimental system for elucidating the genetic determinants of disease. Even the differences in disease initiation and progression between mouse and human may yield insights that could be helpful in the prevention or treatment of human disease.

Adapted from an article by the Public Health Genetics Unit .

Further reading

Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium: Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome. Nature 2002 Dec 5;420(6915):520-62. Abstract