The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 85

Bat Clues
Dr. Emma Teeling is looking at the genetics of bats.
Why? Because therein could lie clues about how genes
play important roles in health. At University College
Dublin her work compares genomes of bats and
various other animal species to tease out how nature
has addressed particular problems. The fi ndings could
help us better understand conditions such as inherited
deafness, as well as more general topics such as ageing
and the immune response. Dr. Teeling’s work also
feeds into a wider international project that is using
“phylogenetics” to examine evolution, and the analysis
is uncovering new information about how mammals
diversifi ed when dinosaurs became extinct.
www.ucd.ie
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