Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics
Set up in 2002, the Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics supplies 'ready-to-use' chromosome-specific DNA from more than 100 species, including the gorilla, zebrafish, chicken, Nile crocodile, Chinese raccoon dog, striped polecat, chipmunk, yak and Hartmann's mountain zebra.
The Resource Centre, led by Professor Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, has special expertise in separating and collecting chromosomes for the production of chromosome-specific DNA. This has many uses, such as in comparative mapping, gene localisation and evolutionary studies.
Based at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School, the Resource Centre also undertakes research into genomic evolution. One of its recent successes was the elucidation of the sex chromosome system in the duck-billed platypus – a bizarre system based on five male-specific chromosomes and five chromosomes present in one copy in males and two copies in females.
