BOSTON – Mankind’s best friend for thousands of years is ready to teach new tricks to science.
The genetic makeup of the dog – in this case a boxer named Tasha – has been deciphered and should help identify genes that make both dogs and people vulnerable to cancers, heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, blindness, deafness and even some psychiatric disorders, scientists said Wednesday.
The work is the first virtually complete decoding of the species and illuminates the blueprint that shapes everything from the smallest chihuahua to the biggest great dane.
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read,” quipped Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, crediting the late comic Groucho Marx. “We’re here to unveil the book of the dog.”
Collins and other researchers made their announcement at a Boston dog show. The research, overseen by the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, was published in today’s issue of the journal Nature.
The researchers used the DNA of a family pet whose owners wish to remain anonymous. The female boxer named Tasha was chosen from more than 100 candidates because her DNA looked especially amenable to identifying its 2.4 billion chemical building blocks. But it turned out that any dog would do, said Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute.
“It is a historic occasion today for the relationship between humans and dogs,” he said of the animal domesticated 30,000 years ago. “Dogs are prepared to teach us new tricks.”
The results are more complete than those announced in 2003 for the DNA of a male poodle named Shadow. Scientists have also deciphered the DNA of mice, rats, chimps, chickens and of course humans, as well as many other organisms.
At the DNA level, two randomly chosen dogs differ only about as much as two randomly chosen people, yet the variation in appearance, size and behavior in dogs is “just mind-boggling,” Lander has said.
Researchers estimated that dogs have 19,300 genes, almost all of them canine versions of genes found in people. Prior studies have indicated that people have about 3,000 more, but Lander said the dog analysis “is leading us to question whether those are in fact real human genes.” Some proposed human genes, he said, are now “suspect” and may not be genes at all.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
