LSU's Mark Batzer decodes orangutan genome
The word 'orangutan' is derived from a Malay phrase meaning 'man of the forest,' which is a perfectly apt description of these tree-dwelling primates. Genetically the most distant great ape from humans, these critically endangered creatures inhabit the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra. As an arboreal species, they are incredibly sensitive to deforestation, which has decimated census populations in recent years. Mark Batzer, LSU System Boyd Professor and Dr Mary Lou Applewhite Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, and an international consortium of scientists led by Devin Locke and the Genome Centre at Washington University, have decoded the orangutan genome for the first time to discover more about its evolution and untangle its odd history of genetic diversity...