KEY POINTS:
A furry little Australian icon could help scientists fight disease in humans and livestock, and increase farm productivity.
Despite having no farming or medical background, the platypus has given lessons to an international team of scientists, including Professor Neil Gemmell from the University of Otago.
The ancient creature is thought to be best able to show scientists what ancient mammalian ancestors were like when they evolved more than 166 million years ago.
The platypus shares 82 per cent of its genes with humans, mice, dogs, and chickens.
Professor Gemmell said understanding the genetic make-up of the platypus told scientists what genetic features were common to all mammals, and what features were unique to other mammals, including livestock and humans.
The team's research has been based on a female platypus dubbed Glennie.
It has shown the platypus has an abundance of small repetitive DNA sequences that have been thought to have few, if any, functions.
But Professor Gemmell's team showed many of these repetitive sequences were present in other species, including humans.
The challenge is to now work out why this material has been passed down, and what it is there for.
Platypus have 10 sex chromosomes compared to humans' two.
Professor Gemmell said: "We believe this work [on sex chromosomes] will lead to major insights into mammalian sex determination, reproduction and development, potentially leading to innovative new treatments and therapies for humans and livestock that will benefit human health.
