A Flock of Genomes Reveals the Toothy Ancestry of Birds

Posted on December 14, 2014 by jamesbradfordpate

Naturalis Historia

A tidal wave of genomic information came ashore this week in the form of 45 new genome sequences of birds. In a series of papers released in Science hundreds of researches combine to analyze the hundreds of billions of pieces of genetic code of representatives of all the major groups of birds.  Prior to this only three bird genomes had been completed including that of the chicken, turkey and finch.

To give you some perspective on the sheer magnitude of this data set, in 2000 the first genome of a mammal was reported.  That genome was the human genome and it took 10 years and around a billion dollars to complete.  The chicken genome took years to finish and cost millions of dollars.  In 2014 nearly every day a genome of an organism has being published. Many of these genomes are much larger and more complex than the human genome.  DNA sequencers have…

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About jamesbradfordpate

My name is James Pate. This blog is about my journey. I read books. I watch movies and TV shows. I go to church. I try to find meaning. And, when I can’t do that, I just talk about stuff that I find interesting. I have degrees in fields of religious studies. I have an M.Phil. in the History of Biblical Interpretation from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. I also have an M.A. in Hebrew Bible from Jewish Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from DePauw University.
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1 Response to A Flock of Genomes Reveals the Toothy Ancestry of Birds

  1. laurieanichols says:
    December 15, 2014 at 3:02 am

    Interesting James 🙂

    Like

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