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Genetic makeup of dogs unravelled to help treat diseases

Man'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 on 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 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," he said.

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 yesterday'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," he said.

The results are more complete than those announced in 2003 for the DNA of a male poodle named Shadow.

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 was quoted as saying in an earlier interview.

"How is it within one narrow gene pool you can produce Chihuahuas and Great Danes?" he asked.

Much of the answer involves differences in turning gene activity on and off, he said, and further study could improve the understanding of that.

The new work also identified signposts along the canine DNA that will help spot genes that predispose dogs to certain diseases, some of which they share with humans.
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