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A huge chunk of a tardigrade's genome comes from foreign DNA


November 18, 2015

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Researchers have sequenced the genome of the nearly indestructible tardigrade, the only animal known to survive the extreme environment of outer space, and found something they never expected: They get a huge chunk of their genome--nearly 17.5 percent--from foreign DNA. The research raises the question of whether there is a connection between foreign DNA and the ability to survive extreme environments, and could stretch conventional views of how DNA is inherited.Full Story

Source
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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