The domestic cow is the latest animal to have its full genome sequenced and analysed. The results, published today by a large international team in the journal Science, are expected to spur agricultural researchers’ efforts to produce better beef and dairy products and understand bovine disease.

The cow (Bos taurus) is the first livestock animal to have all its DNA sequenced. By comparing the results with other mammalian genomes – including the human, chimpanzee, mouse, dog, mouse, rat, opossum and platypus – scientists expect also to gain new insights into the evolution of genes that play a role in human disease.