New Delhi: For the first time in the world, the entire genetic structure of the cow has been sequenced. It reveals that cows have about 22,000 genes and they are closer to humans than mice and rats.
More than 300 scientists from 25 countries worked for six years to decode this genetic mystery. However, there is only one Indian scientist, Dr Dinesh Kumar from Karnal in Haryana, who contributed to this huge effort.
It was a hump-less American cow rather than the venerated Indian Gau-mata that found favour with the scientists for this genetic analysis.
The research published in the leading American weekly Science finds that cows are known to have been domesticated in India some 10,000 years ago and now over 800 breeds inhabit the world. India today is home to the largest number of cattle in the world housing about 28 per cent of the world's cattle.
Dr Dinesh Kumar, a team member of the Cow Genome Project, currently working at the National Bureau for Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, says, "The whole world will benefit from this sequencing project. It will help increase milk yields and find superior breeds of animals more quickly."
Scientists say this decoding of the DNA of cows will help breed superior varieties of cattle for both the dairy and beef industries.