Taking time for a cat map.Scientists have already mapped the human and canine genomes, or genetic makeup. Now, researchers at Agencourt Bioscience Corporation in Beverly, Mass., are focusing on felines, and it is Cinnamon's turn to donate a brood sample. Cinnamon comes from a carefully bred family, so scientists will know exactly what they are getting when they took at her DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. . Humans and cats alike will benefit from the genome map, which will probably be completed later this year. There are more than 250 genetic diseases that afflict af·flict tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on. [Middle English afflighten, from afflight, cats, and the genome map may lead to prevention and treatment of diseases such as feline leukemia leukemia (l  kē`mēə), cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature . Cats also
inherit diseases like diabetes and lupus lupus (l`pəs), noninfectious chronic disease in which antibodies in an individual's immune system attack the body's own substances. in exactly the same way that
humans do. The cat genome will provide a medical model for studying
these and other human diseases, such as AIDS and various cancers.
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