An article published in the journal “Nature Ecology & Evolution” reports a complete genome sequencing of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard existing today. A collaboration between the Gladstone Institutes, the University of California, San Francisco and the Atlanta Zoo that includes researchers from the Universities of Florence and Padua, Italy, led to the sequencing of the DNA of the species classified as Varanus komodoensis using various technologies to obtain a high quality result. This made it possible to compare that genome with that of other reptiles to understand how it has become a lethal predator with unique physiological and metabolic characteristics among reptiles.