Canine Research Introduction
Inherited diseases are widespread among purebred dogs and represent a significant welfare issue for afflicted breeds. A major focus of the Canine Genetics team at the AHT is to identify the genetic mutations responsible for inherited diseases and develop robust diagnostic tests that can be used to identify the disease status of dogs at or shortly after birth, from a blood sample or a cheek swab. The tests provide valuable information that breeders can use to plan successful breeding strategies to avoid the birth of affected dogs and to ultimately eliminate disease from the breeds at risk.
Our strategy is to obtain DNA samples for our research from the pet population, rather than from affected animals purpose-bred solely for research. This is preferable on welfare grounds as it avoids the deliberate breeding of animals affected with inherited diseases.
During recent years, working closely with scientific collaborators and breeders from around the world, we have used a variety of scientific strategies to successfully identify novel mutations associated with inherited diseases that affect various breeds of dogs. Our research strategies have included whole genome scans, to identify regions of the genome where disease mutations are located, and also candidate gene approaches, where we have investigated genes known to cause disease in man for their role in the development of similar diseases in the dog. Examples of some of our successes are discussed below.
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