National Human Genome Research Institute | National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
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1996: Yeast Genome Sequenced
Saccharomyces cerevisiae has had a long, distinguished role in human history; it is the yeast used by bakers and brewers. When the yeast genome sequence was obtained, it was the largest genome sequenced to date. It contains just over 12 million base pairs packaged in 16 chromosomes. Yeast have approximately 6,000 genes in all. About a third of these genes are related to human genes; they have survived with relatively little alteration over the one billion years of evolution that separate humans and yeast, suggesting that they carry out important basic functions in cellular life.
Last Reviewed: April 17, 2009 |
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