Does Dog Hair Hold Clues to Human Health?
Categories: Dogs, Pets in the News
Hi. How come your hair's so short? Photo: star5112/Flickr
Elaine A. Ostrander, chief of the Institute's cancer genetics branch, studied the DNA of more than 1,000 dogs, representing about 90 different breeds, according to NPR. "You can go to the dog park, and every breed of dog looks different from every other breed, it seems. Yet, you know, when we get down to the molecular biology, we really find that it's a combination of three different genes that accounts for all that variation," Ostrander told NPR.
Ostrander and her colleagues found that short-haired dogs like beagles have the ancestral form of each of the three genes -- the same versions found in wolves, which dogs are descended from. Changes to those genes lead to traits like wiry fur, long hair, or beards. Curlicues like Portuguese water dogs have a variation in each of the three genes, reports MSNBC.
So why are scientists at the Human Genome Institute working on dog hair? Instead of studying each gene one by one, the research team wants to know how the three genes work together to produce a particular type of fur, MSNBC reports. Understanding how genes work together is important, since many human diseases are thought to be caused by several faulty genes.
"We think this approach will help pinpoint multiple genes involved in complex human conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity," Ostrander told MSNBC.
Think of that next time you're vacuuming up hairballs.
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