Canine Aging: Can Old Dogs Teach us New Tricks?

Опубликовано 22 июля 2016, 23:11

The domestic dog is the most phenotypically variable species in the world. Breeds vary dramatically not only in shape, size and behavior, but also in patterns of aging and age-related disease. Dogs share our environment, experience similar diseases and patterns of aging, and have a health care system whose sophistication comes close to our own. Thus, dogs present us with a tremendous opportunity to identify the genetic and environmental factors that shape complex traits, from morphology, to behavior, to illness and aging. I will discuss our recent findings from large cohort studies on patterns of aging and age-related disease in dogs. These initial studies have laid the foundation for the Dog Aging Project. This large-scale project combines state of the art molecular biology, sensor technology, and statistical methods in a nationwide, data intensive, open science study on the genetic and environmental determinants of healthy aging in companion dogs.