Platypus Gene Research Reveals More Clues To Evolutionary Processes

Australia, (AHN) -- Researchers studying platypus genes have found new insights to evolutionary transitions, and maybe even a new source for pain medication.

Sify News reported that research author Kathy Belov said: "Our wildlife is an untapped resource for biomedical discovery. Platypus molecules have the potential to be developed into novel and powerful therapeutics."

"We have discovered the genes that code for the major component of platypus venom. Venom in a mammal is unusual, and we wanted to see where these genes came from, and whether they are related to venom in snakes and lizards."

The article said that platypus venom may have medicinal qualities such as pain relief and antibiotic uses. Only male platypus' have venom, which is used in fighting and comes from a hind spur.

The research was published last week in the journal, Nature. Richard Gibbs, who directs the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas was quoted saying, "You have got these reptilian repeat patterns and these more recently evolved milk genes and independent evolution of the venom. It all points to how idiosyncratic evolution is."

The research team was comprised of 89 scientists from eight countries, led by Wesley C. Warren, a geneticist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

According to a New York Times article, the project was primarily financed by the National Human Genome Research Institute in the United States. Director, Francis S. Collins, said, "As weird as this animal looks, its genome sequence is priceless for understanding how mammalian biological processes evolved."