Vancouver
(CP): 4/5/13 CTV News- by Dene Moore, Scientists have decoded the DNA of
the Western painted turtle, and hope that unravelling the mystery of the
reptiles may lead to medical breakthroughs for humans.
They are the
most abundant turtle in North America, with a northernmost range from Ontario west to British Columbia ,
where they are listed as endangered on the Pacific Coast
and of special concern in the rest of the province.
The shelled
reptile, named for the bright yellow and red stripes that adorn its body, is a
fresh water species that can freeze solid and return to life when thawed.
It can also
hold its breath for up to four days at room temperature without suffering
oxygen deprivation and up to four months when hibernating, said Brad Shaffer of
UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and one of the authors
of the study published in the latest edition of the journal Genome Biology.
"Those
are fascinating ecological, physiological features that have evolved in turtles
... so as a biologist those are fascinating things to learn more about, more
about the genes that allow them to do that," Shaffer said.
Shaffer and
his colleagues hope solving the DNA puzzle may one day lead to innovations in
treating hypothermia, frostbite, heart attacks or strokes.
The DNA
confirmed for scientists that the turtles have evolved at a ... turtle's pace,
and have in fact changed little in design over the past 210 million years.
"Turtles
are nothing short of an enigma," Richard K. Wilson, director of Washington
University's Genome Institute and one of the authors, said in a statement.
"We could learn a lot from them."
In addition to
their ability to freeze and thaw without suffering organ or tissue damage, they
have longevity and continue to reproduce at advanced ages, he said.
Western
painted turtles can live for more than 40 years, while other species of turtle
live well over a century. Females can grow up to 25 centimetres long, while
males grow up to 17 centimetres.
The DNA
information -- funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute at the
National Institutes of Health in the United
States -- is being shared with 59 scientists around the
world, including three researchers at UBC, Carlton
and the University
of Toronto for further
study.
While Western
painted turtles have fared well east of the Rocky Mountains, they are listed on
the federal Species At Risk registry as a species of special concern in the Rocky Mountain
area and west to the B.C. Interior.
They are
listed as endangered in the coastal area that includes Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast ,
Metro Vancouver and the Fraser
Valley because of the
loss of wetlands and pace of urban development.
"Roads
are a big threat. The female leaves the pond and tries to find a very open,
sunny area to lay her eggs and often that means crossing a road," said
Purnima Govindarajulu, a provincial government biologist and spokeswoman for
its B.C. Frogwatch program.
"A turtle
being a turtle, they're not moving very quickly so they're very susceptible to
being killed on the road."
The provincial
government has several programs aimed at saving the turtles, including creating
nesting beaches so they don't have to cross roads.
There is also
a genetic study being conducted at UBC Okanagan, and students from Thompson Rivers University
are studying the effects of hydro dams on the reptiles.
There are 330
turtle species, and about half are considered threatened due largely to their
popularity as a food dish in Asia , where lore
says eating turtles promotes good health and long life.
Schaffer said
he hopes the potential for medical advances might help save turtles.
"They're
fascinating in their own right just as examples of unique biodiversity. They're
important in terms of what they might say in terms of human health and welfare,
and over half of them are threatened with extinction right now," he said.
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