The lab rat genome is “mapped” — or close enough that they’re willing to announce it. From Rat Genome Helps Separate Mice from Men:
The genetic code of the rat joined the growing list of creatures whose DNA has been mapped on Wednesday and experts said it will make the laboratory rat, already beloved by scientists, an even better tool for fighting human disease.The rat is only the third species to be sequenced to such a degree, after the completed human genome sequence in April 2003 and the draft mouse genome in December 2002.
It confirms that the laboratory rat is in fact a good choice for medical research. Almost all human genes associated with diseases have counterparts in the rat genome, the researchers write in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.
There are actually multiple species of rat; they sequenced a popular strain of lab rat:
The researchers, led by a team at Baylor College of Medicine’s Genome Sequencing Center in Texas, chose the Brown Norway strain of laboratory rat, known scientifically as Rattus norvegicus.This species was best known in the past for infecting ships and is distinct from the smaller black rat, Rattus rattus, notorious for spreading plague.