Giant panda research experts Pan Wenshi (L), Hou Rong (C), and Tian Geng pose for a photo in front of the genome of giant pandas in Shenzhen, south China, on Oct. 11, 2008. The announcement that Chinese scientists have completed sequencing the genome of giant pandas was made in Shenzhen on Saturday.

SHENZHEN, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have completed sequencing the genome of giant pandas. The announcement was made here Saturday.

They hope the new information will give them a better biological understanding of why pandas eat bamboo, have black circles around their eyes and produce few offspring.

"By sequencing the giant panda genome we've laid the genetic and biological foundation for us to gain a deeper understanding of the peculiar species," said Dr. Wang Jun, a scientist with the Beijing Genomics Institute's Shenzhen branch (BGI Shenzhen), a core participant in the project.