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If you stand in the lobby of the Ó³»­´«Ã½, it's hard not to notice the movement of mammals above your head. A 17-foot wide mobile that hangs from the lobby's ceiling includes the silhouettes of a chimpanzee, two-toed sloth, alpaca, little brown bat, elephant, dolphin, and more. Each of the depicted mammals gently swaying from the mobile's branches has had its genome sequenced at the Ó³»­´«Ã½, the Genome Institute at Washington University, or the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center.

Ó³»­´«Ã½ researchers compared all 29 of these genomes in an effort to understand our own genomic mysteries. By looking across species, they have cast new light on the molecular components of all life and have taken an important step toward decrypting the information locked in our own DNA.

This video includes footage of the phylogenetic mobile and facts that we've learned by comparing and analyzing these genomes.

Music from Camille Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals" performed by John Michel, Video courtesy of Nick Dua, Ó³»­´«Ã½ Communications.