Awesome Research in Dog Genetics

There is awesome research going on right now at University of California, Berkley. If you are familar with the Human Genome Project it maps the genetic make of people and be able to identify disease and other genetic defects. Well this is essentially the same thing only with dogs. They are hoping that this research will be able to help vets identify genetic disorders such as cancer and epilepsy, especially ones that are breed specific. So with that being said they are hoping to be able to identify the different breeds that help make up are favorite mutts. My interest in this research was spawned by my doubts of the actual mix of my pup Maya. (She's supposedly a pom-a-poo although there is nothing poodle to her) Here's a link that tells about the research and what's going on, some of it is written in scientific jargon but is still incredibly interesting!

http://mendel.berkeley.edu/dog.html
http://www.workingdogs.com/genetics.htm

 

This is cool stuff .Glad to know someone is actually working on something like this .

 

oh no... more stuff to set aside for when the brain is ACTUALLY workin...

 

I find it interesting .I believe though you can already tell .They know a maltese ,they know a poodle .All they have to do is get dna and have it checked I suppose .Should be as easy as finding out if a father is really one or not ,but any research that helps should be good in the end ,if it is true and does what it says it will do .Years to know for sure and then to be used only as a back up .Still ,it is one step in noting that crosses are here to stay .