Originally published January 8 2006
Dog DNA is unexpectedly similar to human genome sequence
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Genome sequencers at Harvard University, MIT and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., have discovered that the genetic code of dogs is very similar to humans.
Scientists are publishing today the complete DNA sequence that makes a dog a dog, and it turns out to be uncannily close to what makes a person a person.
Genome sequencers at Harvard University, MIT and their affiliated Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., led an international team of scientists through a unique landscape of doggie DNA.
About 2.4 billion chemical units of DNA define a species uniquely shaped by people ever since dogs left the wolf pack and joined our human ancestors at least 15,000 years ago.
Simultaneously, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island devoted the December issue of its journal "Genome Research," exclusively to canine studies, and produced a book, "The Dog and Its Genome," co-edited by the Whitehead Institute's Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, lead researcher of the genome study and co-director of the genome sequencing and analysis group of the Broad Institute.
They have about 19,300 genes, scientists estimate, all but a handful close copies of human genes.
"It's basically the same gene set in dogs and humans," Lindblad-Toh said during a telephone interview this week.
Dogs attract keen research interest in part because of their astounding variety of sizes, physical forms, coat colors and, of course, behavioral traits.
The task is made more manageable because the same breeding programs that generated the 350 or so modern dog breeds also left precise records of line- ages going back many generations.
In veterinary medicine, one of the big tricks now will be to see what disease susceptibilities might be linked genetically to traits that help define a breed.
Two researchers in the United Kingdom, James Usherwood and Alan Wilson, used high-speed video to analyze the speed and footfall timings of 40 greyhounds tearing around a track after a mechanical hare.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml