Geckos boast one of the most impressive talents of any animal: the ability to scamper up a smooth wall or across a ceiling with ease. How do they do it? Well, it is all in the genes.

Scientists on Tuesday said they have sequenced the genome of the species Gekko japonicus, or Schlegel's Japanese gecko, and found the genetic underpinning of the lizard's gravity-defying feat.

The gecko walks up walls and across ceilings thanks to sophisticated adhesive toe pads with tiny hairlike structures known as setae. These setae are composed predominantly of beta-keratin, a protein found in reptiles that provides more rigidity than mammals' alpha-keratin, the substance in human fingernails and hair.