The Washington Post is carrying an interesting story on the recently completed cow genome: “Cow’s DNA Sequence Reveals Mankind’s Influence Over Last 10,000 Years.” Most interesting is what was learned by looking closely at such a domesticated beast. The scientists were able to clearly see where selective breeding has radically changed the animal that we now recognize as a cow. And did I mention that the name of the cow is Dominette, how great is that?
Hidden in her [the cow below named L1 Dominette 01449] roughly 22,000 genes are hints of how natural selection sculpted the bovine body and personality over the last 60 million years, and how man greatly enhanced the job over the last 10,000.
This undated handout photo provided by the Agriculture Department shows a Hereford cow, named L1 Dominette 01449, with her calf on the rangeland of the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Montana. (AP Photo/Michael MacNeil, Agriculture Department)
