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University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories

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Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge.
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    • Obesity in Dogs
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  • Home
  • The Science
    • Obesity in Dogs
    • What causes obesity?
    • Why study genetics of obesity?
    • Gene Mapping in Dogs
    • GOdogs Results
      • Measuring Appetite
      • A mutation contributing to Labrador obesity
      • Labradors, flatcoats, POMC and obesity
  • Your Dog
    • Genetic Testing
    • The Art of Managing Your Dog’s Weight
    • 4 Strategies for Slender Dogs
  • Can You Help?
    • Can your dog help?
    • Can your practice help?
  • About GOdogs
    • People
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs and Studentships
    • Links
  • Tweets

Gene Mapping in Dogs

Three photos of rretreiver breeds
From left to right: St John’s water dog, Labrador and golden retrievers. St John’s water dogs no longer exist as a breed but were the founder population for modern retrievers. They were used by fishermen to retrieve nets in the icy waters of Newfoundland. Perhaps a thick insulating fat layer was a selection advantage in those dogs and has been passed to their descendants.

Compared to human genetics, the canine genetics field is in its infancy.  However, the canine genome was sequenced in 2005 and is increasingly well annotated with genes and variants.  As well as conventional Sanger sequencing being possible, there are high density chip arrays which allow simultaneous assay of hundreds of thousands of single base pair variations (SNPs) across the genome and these make performing gene mapping studies possible.

The unique way in which dogs have been bred to perform different jobs and look in certain ways has led to dogs being particularly valuable as a way to investigate the genetic basis of disease.  Firstly, within breeds there is often less genetic diversity than would be expected in a human population of similar size.  That can lead to enrichment for a gene or small number of genes for particular traits – good (such as desirable conformation or behaviour) or bad (predisposing to disease).  That makes tracking down what those genes are easier.  Secondly, it means dogs have an unusual genetic haplotype structure that makes gene mapping uniquely tractable in this species.  Whereas in humans, thousands of cases and controls are needed to map disease associations on a genome-wide basis, in dogs simple traits can be mapped with as few as 20 individuals in case and control groups and complex traits with as few as 100 in each group.

There is a good review about gene mapping in dogs here.

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NatalieJessic10 avatarNatalie Wallis@NatalieJessic10·
8 Jun 1534459370028900355

Lovely being able to host @EllieRaffan at the Pembroke Supervisors' Dinner yesterday evening! Great food, service and company @pembroke1347 ๐Ÿ’ƒ๐Ÿฅ‚๐Ÿ’“

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ATJCagan avatarAlex Cagan@ATJCagan·
13 Apr 1514281139120267277

Incredibly excited to share our paper โ€˜Somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan across mammalsโ€™ now published @nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04618-z
An illustrated & updated tweetorialโ€ฆ [1/24]

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NatalieJessic10 avatarNatalie Wallis@NatalieJessic10·
21 Apr 1517165385283473411

What a brilliant day at the @IMS_MRL department 'away day' yesterday. Lovely being back in person and so happy to have won a best poster prize ๐ŸŽ‰!! Thank you to the IMS organisers, @RobinsonCamb staff for the great hospitality and @GilesYeo (& co) for the entertainment ๐Ÿ’ƒ.

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NatalieJessic10 avatarNatalie Wallis@NatalieJessic10·
4 Mar 1499773234488746000

In our latest review, we discuss in great detail what is known about #obesity in companion animals and how this compares to humans. Read it here: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/11/11/1378/htm

๐Ÿถ To find out more, follow the @GOdogsProject team: @NatalieJessic10 @EllieRaffan @AlyceMcClellan6
๐Ÿงต 6/6

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NatalieJessic10 avatarNatalie Wallis@NatalieJessic10·
4 Mar 1499773210019176453

Today is World Obesity Day 2022. Obesity is a widespread and complex disease which is heavily stigmatised. Together we can treat and prevent obesity.
Can greedy pups help us??? ๐Ÿถ Yes they can!! #WorldObesityDay #PetObesity @IMS_MRL @PDN_Cambridge @GOdogsProject
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  • Obesity in Dogs
  • What causes obesity?
  • Why study genetics of obesity?
  • Gene Mapping in Dogs
  • GOdogs Results
    • Measuring Appetite
    • A mutation contributing to Labrador obesity
    • Labradors, flatcoats, POMC and obesity

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