World’s Largest Genome Discovered in a Tiny Fern: ‘Breaks all records’

[Michie]

A group of small fork ferns – credit Pol Fernandez, released via iScience

On the island of New Caledonia, a simple, unassuming species of fern has been identified as having the longest genome of any living organism known.

It is 50 times longer than a human’s, 7% longer than the previous world record-holding species for longest genome, and 20% longer than the record-holding animal.

It contains 416 chromosomes in every cell, compared to a human’s 23, and if unraveled, would climb higher than Big Ben in London’s Westminster.

Continued below.

World’s Largest Genome Discovered in a Tiny Fern: ‘Breaks all records’

It contains 416 chromosomes in every cell, compared to a human's 23, and if unraveled, would climb higher than Big Ben

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

 

[AlexB23]

A group of small fork ferns – credit Pol Fernandez, released via iScience

On the island of New Caledonia, a simple, unassuming species of fern has been identified as having the longest genome of any living organism known.

It is 50 times longer than a human’s, 7% longer than the previous world record-holding species for longest genome, and 20% longer than the record-holding animal.

It contains 416 chromosomes in every cell, compared to a human’s 23, and if unraveled, would climb higher than Big Ben in London’s Westminster.

Continued below.

World’s Largest Genome Discovered in a Tiny Fern: ‘Breaks all records’

It contains 416 chromosomes in every cell, compared to a human's 23, and if unraveled, would climb higher than Big Ben

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

Wow, 416 chromosomes is a lot. Big Ben is around 96 meters (316 ft tall), for reference.

Big Ben - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org