Categories
Healthy Planet

Sequencing the Beaver

It has orange teeth that grow throughout its lifetime. It chews relentlessly on trees and builds dams that shape habitats across the continent. In earlier centuries, its fur was the currency of empires. While a lot is known about the North American beaver (Castor canadensis), the animal’s complete genome has never been sequenced. Until now.

Categories
Innovation

Tools of the Trade

Scientists, farmers and plant breeders who feed the world have a new scientific resource at their disposal to help them cut through the DNA clutter.