Scientists have unravelled the genetic make-up of one of New Zealand's most notorious killers - the stoat. But now that scientists know their DNA secrets of the stoat and the ship rat, they've got a powerful new codebook to use against them. While the ship rat's genome was first assembled five years ago by Dr Florian Pichlmuller, scientists now have a sharper picture thanks to fresh sequencing work by a joint Kiwi and Australian team. Photo: D Mudge / NZHAs with the ship rat's, the stoat genome was created using a trapped animal. Along with possums, rats and stoats are estimated to kill some 25 million native birds every year.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 07, 2020 22:36 UTC