http://blogs.yourdiscovery.com/discovery-news/2009/12/veggie-pandas-cannot-taste-meat.html12/15/2009
Veggie pandas 'cannot taste meat'animals#topic
Scientists have suggested that the reason pandas are vegetarian could be that they unable to taste meat.
Their study on a three-year-old panda through genome mapping could also unravel secrets that may ensure the survival of the endangered species.
The findings of the study, led by the Beijing Genomics Institute's branch in Shenzhen in southern China on the female animal named Jingjing, are published in Nature magazine.
They found that pandas lived on the Earth as far back as three million years ago and that their genetic make-up evolves slower than that of humans and other mammals.
Giant pandas may have stuck to a bamboo diet due to mutations in certain sequences of their taste gene, which can affect the ability to experience savoury flavours such as meat and other high-protein foods.
Their study also suggested that inbreeding as the cause of the population decline could be ruled out as Jingjing's DNA in various cells differed in many places.
Zhang Liming, a researcher at the Wolong Panda Nature Reserve, said: "Further research involving genome mapping will help us develop better technology for giant panda breeding and disease prevention."
There are just 1,600 wild pandas alive, mostly in China's south-western Sichuan province, while 120 more live in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and 20 in zoos outside China.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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