Charles Darwin's scientific successors embark on an extraordinary quest to sequence genomes of 60,000 species – Scotsman comment

Who knew that mistletoe was quite so complicated?
Quiz question: Whose genome is bigger? Is it a, the man's, b the woman's or c, the foliage in his hand? (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)Quiz question: Whose genome is bigger? Is it a, the man's, b the woman's or c, the foliage in his hand? (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Quiz question: Whose genome is bigger? Is it a, the man's, b the woman's or c, the foliage in his hand? (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It turns out that the festive plant’s genome is more than 40 times the size of the human one, according to Edinburgh University scientists.

The academics are taking part in the Darwin Tree of Life Project – which aims to sequence the genomes of not just mistletoe but more than 60,000 British and Irish species over the next decade – in research that it is hoped will provide fresh insights into a range of diseases and cancers in humans and other animals.

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Secrets of mistletoe to be uncovered by Scottish scientists
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Anyone smarting at the idea that a mere plant has a larger genome than high and mighty Homo sapiens may also wish to ponder the somewhat humbling fact that we share about 50 per cent of our genes with bananas (or, more accurately, that about half our genes have counterparts in bananas – the DNA is not necessarily the same).

However, inter-species jealousies aside, the potential benefits of research like this can hardly be over-stated. There has long been talk of a future in which personalised medicine, based on an individual’s particular genetic make-up, revolutionises healthcare by producing drugs that are essentially tailor-made for each patient.

And, who knows what other benefits we will unearth as scientists continue to investigate the very building blocks of life itself? Genetics is a field of science that is increasing human knowledge about fundamental questions in ways that perhaps only astronomy and space exploration can match.

In ten years’ time, the surprising size of mistletoe’s genome will likely pale into insignificance as we explore the Tree of Life and the idea sowed by the great Charles Darwin.

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