The Buffalome?

Today’s issue of the New York Times includes an article describing work to identify and preserve "pure bison genes" in order to maintain the genetic legacy of American bison. Problem is, that legacy has been mingled with domestic cattle in efforts to “make a better beef animal.” Meatier, more docile hybrids are known as cattelo, if you were wondering. Check out the article to pick up more interesting details about the project, as well as the genomic wrangling of James Derr, a geneticist at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, who is leading a project to conserve the genome of bona fide bison.