Our Cousin, the Sea Urchin

Researchers have decoded the genome of the sea urchin. This may not sound too exciting -- scientists seem to be decoding a genome about every other day -- but apparently this one says a lot about humans.

According to a press release:

There was great interest in the sea urchin as a target for genomesequencing because these animals share a common ancestor with humans.
That ancestor lived over 540 million years ago and gave rise to theDeuterostomes, the superphylum of animals that includes phyla such asechinoderms and chordates, the phylum to which humans and othervertebrates belong. All Deuterostomes are more closely related to eachother than they are to any other animals not included in theDeuterostome superphylum. For example, among sequenced genomes, thegenomes of fruit flies and worms are more distant from the sea urchingenome than is the human genome.

"Each genome that we sequence brings new surprises. This analysisshows that sea urchins share substantially more genes and biologicalpathways with humans than previously suspected," said Dr. Francis S.
Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute atthe National Institutes of Health. "Comparing the genome of the seaurchin with that of the human and other model organisms will providescientists with novel insights into the structure and function of ourown genome, deepening our understanding of the human body in health anddisease."