Sandy at three weeks. Photo: Barry Eggleton
A proposal by University of New South Wales scientist and Australian cattle dog breeder Bill Ballard to study the DNA of a two-year-old dingo called Sandy Maliki has been announced as one of five finalists in the World’s Most Interesting Genome! competition.
More than 200 international entries were received for the Pacific Biosciences SMRT Grant, which provides services worth about $20,000 to sequence the complete genome of a particularly fascinating or important plant or animal.
The general public will decide the winner and Sandy fans are encouraged to vote on the competition website. You have until 5 April and can participate each day until then if you feel so inclined—to maximise Ballard (and Sandy’s) chances!
Sandy’s progress can be followed on the DancingwithDingoes Facebook page and on Youtube.