Posted on August 29, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

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A lot of human diseases are thought to be caused by a combination of faulty genes. New scientific research on dog fur is helping to pinpoint the multiple genes involved in cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease in humans.

The study of more than 1,000 dogs of approximately 90 breeds at the National Human Genome Institute have recently discovered that all variations of dog fur comes from a combination of three different genes,  which accounts for all their variances. Researcher Elaine A. Ostrander, chief of the Institute’s cancer genetics branch, has found that variants of three genes account for seven major coat types of purebred dogs.

The three genes—FGF5 for long or short fur;  KRT71 for straight, curly or wavy fur; and RSPO2 is for wiry hair like the typical Scottish terriers—were called “single nucleotide polymorphisms” (SNPSs) that were associated with these fur characteristics.

Recent modern in-bred dogs have multiple coat types uncharacteristic of earlier dogs, with ancestral dogs originating from wolves approximately 15,000 years ago. Coat types today consist of three traits: length, curl and texture, all controlled by one major gene. Short-haired dogs such as beagles have the ancestral form of  “each of the three genes”. This version is the same type found in  wolves, with future changes bringing about dogs with wiry fur, long hair, or beards, with curlicues (Portuguese water dogs) having a variation of each of the three genes.

This study is important because of the complexity of human diseases, with dog research on their fur bringing about scientific information benefiting humans. This info is basically about how the three genes work together to produce a particular type of the dog’s fur in the same manner as the working together of faulty genes in human diseases with the same process.

(This is an excellent source, Frank….thanks for suggesting it!)

RESOURCES
Three genes decide how a dog’s fur looks
Does Dog Hair Hold Clues to Human Health?

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