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The compilation of a dense gene map and eventually a whole genome sequence (WGS) of the domestic cat holds considerable value for human genome annotation, for veterinary medicine, and for insight into the evolution of genome organization among mammals. Human association and veterinary studies of the cat, its domestic breeds, and its charismatic wild relatives of the family Felidae have rendered the species a powerful model for human hereditary diseases, for infectious disease agents, for adaptive evolutionary divergence, for conservation genetics, and for forensic applications. Here we review the advantages, rationale, and present strategy of a feline genome project, and we describe the disease models, comparative genomics, and biological applications posed by the full resolution of the cat's genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]