The calico cat is a unique natural phenomenon that could help scientists understand the human genome and stop inherited traits like diabetes.
The animal's mingling black, white and orange fur comes from an unusual chromosome structure and is only found in female cats. The kitties have an orange fur color gene on one X chromosome and a black fur gene on the other.
The unique patchwork effect occurs when one of the X chromosomes in each cell is "randomly silenced," Discovery News reported.
How does this information apply to humans? If scientists can figure out how to silence a chromosome, they will be able to stop people from inheriting different traits.
"Uncovering how only one X chromosome is inactivated will help explain the whole process of epigenetic control, meaning the way changes in gene activity can be inherited without changing the DNA code," Elizabeth Smith of the University of California San Francisco said in a press release provided to Discovery News. "It can help answer other questions such as if and how traits like obesity can be passed down through generations."
With an imaging technology called "soft x-ray tomography," researchers have been able to look at specific chromosomes. Eventually, scientists will attempt to find out how to turn off certain genes without changing the basic DNA sequence.
"With new fluorescent probes, we can start identifying the position of specific genes in context--inside the tangled network of DNA within the intact nucleus," Smith explained.
The X chromosome has been linked to disorders and also associated with body fat distribution and obesity, which can be an inherited trait. If scientists can find a way to silence certain genes, they may be able to stop obesity and various inherited diseases.
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