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.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number