September 15, 2011 (Vol. 31, No. 16)
Rating:
Strong Points: Nice list of accompanying publications
Weak Points: Nothing significant
Summary:
Culinary connoisseurs know it as an exotic and potentially deadly delicacy, while the general population most commonly know it as “that weird fish that looks like a beach ball.” That’s right, I’m talking about the puffer fish, or “fugu”. In addition to being strange in appearance and tingly to the tongue, the fugu is also a convenient organism for comparative genomics. The fugu genome is one of the smallest vertebrate genomes, yet it contains approximately the same number of genes as humans (whose genome is eight times the size!). The Fugu Genome Project presents on its website the latest drafts of the fugu genome, as well as a genome browser and a genetic linkage map. The genome sequence is also accompanied by a list of publications, as well as some fugu photos. (Because really, who wants to go to a website about a puffer fish that doesn’t include photos?)
