Parrot genome analysis reveals insights into longevity, cognition

Parrots are famously talkative, and a blue-fronted Amazon parrot named Moises—or at least its genome—is telling scientists volumes about the longevity and highly developed cognitive abilities that give parrots so much in common with humans. Perhaps someday, it will also provide clues about how parrots learn to vocalize so well. Morgan Wirthlin, a BrainHub post-doctoral fellow in Carnegie Mellon University's Computational Biology Department and first author of a report to appear in the Dec. 17 issue of the journal Current Biology, said she and her colleagues sequenced the genome of the Blue-fronted Amazon and used it to perform the first comparative study of parrot genomes.
By comparing the blue-fronted Amazon with 30 other long- and short-lived birds—including four additional parrot species—she and colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and other entities identified a suite of genes previously not known to play a role in longevity that deserves further study. They also identified genes associated with longevity in fruit flies and worms. "In many cases, this is the first time we've connected those genes to longevity in vertebrates," she said.