Toothed whales lack genes for important antiviral proteins
The basic role of Mx genes is to make proteins that fight viral infections such as HIV, measles and flu.
'We compared the whole-genome sequence of four toothed whales, a baleen whale and dozens of related mammals like cows and humans,' said Gill Bejerano, Ph.D., associate professor of developmental biology. 'When we looked carefully at the genome sequences, it was very clear that the Mx genes are completely messed up only in the toothed whales.'