| You
May Be More Connected
to Your Dog Than You Think!
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The gene map of man's best friend shows
dogs are closely related to people and will add insights into
our own genetics, U.S. scientists say.
The method used to map out the canine genes is much quicker than
that used to sequence humans, mice and fruit flies, and offers
a fast way to look at other mammals, the scientists said. "It
is a new method for the rapid characterisation of genomes,"
said Craig Venter, whose Centre for the Advancement of Genomics
in Rockville, Maryland, paid for the study. "Once we had
done the human and the mouse, all the other mammalian genomes
could be assembled on them. We can do five species for every one
being done in the current government effort." Venter, who
used cells from his own pet standard poodle Shadow for the project,
said it is not a painstakingly detailed map.
"Does
it give you every last bit (of information)? No. But if gives
you so much information." The research, led by Ewen Kirkness
of The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, was published
in the journal Science. The study found that, out of 24,000 clearly
identified human genes, we share at least 18,000 with dogs.
The
researchers hope to get some insight into what makes a Labrador
want to swim and a border collie want to herd things. They have
already identified 974,400 single nucleotide polymorphisms, also
known as SNPs in the dog. These tiny changes in the genetic code,
which underlie such things as eye color and tendency to disease,
may also help explain the differences among breeds. "Cats
and dogs are extremely close evolutionarily. This could help with
cat diseases as well," Venter said. The study confirms that,
while dogs and wolves diverged from the common ancestor of all
mammals long before early humans and mice did, dogs are much more
closely related to humans than mice are. "The wolf line diverged
a little earlier, but the mouse is evolving faster," Venter
said.
But
mice will remain the laboratory standard for much research, said
Stephen O'Brien and William Murphy of the National Cancer Institute
(news
- web sites). "The study of dog genome breakpoint junctions
will tell us more about 'dogginess' than about humankind,"
they wrote in a commentary in Science. "Second, reproductive
research on dogs is not advanced, which means that cloning, embryo
transfer, stem cell research, transgenics, and gene knockout will
be slow to develop," they added.
Third, they wrote, dogs are pets and mice generally are not, meaning
many oppose medical research using dogs. Next, Venter hopes to
take on the gene maps of other intelligent mammals, such as elephants,
dolphins and whales. They may offer insights into more than just
human disease, he said.
"Elephants
have altruistic behaviour. They get together and will work to
save a baby elephant that's trapped," he said. "That
is behaviour that that can help us understand our own genetic
code
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