The recent publication of the assembly, analysis and annotation of the genome sequence of a female Duroc pig (Sus scrofa) may pay off big for medical research as well as for agricultural production. Although pigs are larger, more expensive to house and slower to reproduce than other common lab animals such as rodents, they share anatomical and physiological characteristics with humans that make them valuable models.
Lab Anim. (NY) 42, 6 (2013).
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