Panda Genome to Be Sequenced

Scroll for Video

Related Items

Microscope at the End of the Rainbow
CDs Cling to Life
Phenomoscope
China Set to Win Pollution Olympics

March 2009 is when biologists expect to complete the genetic sequence of the Giant Panda.
A draft sequence, which catalogues major markers in the animal's DNA will come first, but the detailed sequence will take years.

2008 March - China, Canada, the U.S., Britain and Denmark launched the project.
2008 September - The draft sequence will have been assembled.

Pandas have a large, complex vocabulary, but little is know about their language. Next year, Ben Charlton of Zoo Atlanta and Jen Keating of the San Diego Zoo will be writing a panda dictionary in China.

Source: