Getting to know your dog through its DNA - Page 1

This is a good lecture that clearly explains why pure breeds are special not only to their people, but also to science and geneticists. It covers some of the basics behind Degenerative Myolopothy, the SOD1 Gene, ( ALS in Humans) genetics/behaviors, and so on. Speaker: Mark Neff PhD Jeff PHD...

It clarified some things I've wondered about for years.
Getting to know your dog through its DNA

Published on Oct 20, 2014
While humans and dogs have roughly the same number of genes, 23,000, these genes are spread over 23 chromosomes in humans, and 39 chromosomes in dogs. A working draft of the human genome was published in 2000; a working draft of the dog genome was published in 2004, using DNA from a female boxer, Tasha. With information on both genomes now available, previous observations of similarities between diseases of dogs and humans have been confirmed in many instances. This makes it even more compelling to understand and treat the shared diseases in dogs and humans.
Visit http://www.tildecafe.org for more information

Thanks for sharing this, Lineage! 

I miss being close enough to a vet school to readily attend seminars, symposiums and lectures like this...

A great presentation that covers perhaps more territory than it should.  Well worth listening to many times to absorb and flesh out the concepts. The presenters name is Mark Neff and he is at I think UC San Francisco or at least part of the University of California system.  Part of the speaker's presentation is baffling in it's brilliance but other parts are befuddling in the bullshit presented.  He presents a lot of good information although parts are not accurate on the most basic level and for the most part everything is presented as being genetic when in fact all complex diseases and syndromes are complex because it is environmental influences which account for 90% of the complexity.  The difference in the dog having 39 chromosomes and the human genome having 23 chromosomes is a massive difference between human and canines.  The interaction and the cascade effects of 39 versus 23 chromosomes is glossed over by the speaker when that is a huge fly in the ointment to interpreting differences in diseases and syndromes in canines and humans.  Likewise the dog has a different digestive system and natural food base which is a huge factor in the environmental stressors involved. 

So, bubba, are you among the believers that evolution came to a standstill before the wild canine became domesticated, then? Because I'm of a different point of view. I believe that in the process of domesticating the wild canine, and subsequently in our further development of the myriad of variations on the canine theme through selective breeding for specific traits, we also modified canis familiaris from being an obligatory carnivore, like the feline species, into an omnivore which can utilize a vast array of foods to varying degrees. This makes perfect sense, when you consider that meat has long been a hard won commodity for the human, thus it is less than likely we would have selected the dogs which required the greatest amount of animal-sourced material to advance the continued development of domestic canines. 

All living things must continue to adapt to the circumstances they find themselves in, or their kind dies out--Nature does not favor the specialist, and she makes little accomodations for their survival with no change on their part.

Which dog breed is better adapted to an all meat or all carb based diet??  A small terrier or a large GSD??  All breeds and all animals within a dog breed are not the same.  Likewise the different breeds react differently to the environment with some breeds having reached the point that they will overheat and die without human care or they cannot deliver their young without a C section. 

geez bubba, i always enjoy listening to people like you.

here's a thought why don't you publish a paper in a respected medical journal stating how wrong that presenter (i didn't watch it)  is giving your reasons and evidence why s/he is wrong and your reasons and evidence why you are right.

that way you won't be just someone running their mouth on the internet.

This is another one I really enjoyed, the speaker also breeds Great Pyrenees and Pyreenean Sheepdog. It is a bit older lecture than the one above and these last five years have seen great advances. Here it is thought the first dogs were from the middle east, while the more recent lecture says that siberia is more likely. She mentions the Border Collie Chase, The Dog Who Knows 1000 Words as well, and believes the Greenland Dog is distinct and deserves it's own breed category.
On the Origins of Dogs: Barking up the Evolutionary Tree, Published on May 30, 2012

Title: Origins Science Scholars Program "On the Origins of Dogs: Barking up the Evolutionary Tree"
Speaker: Patricia Princehouse, PhD
Location: campus, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Date: May 8, 2012

Dr. Neff is a very good researcher and is doing interesting work on the link between genetics and behaviors.  As Dr. Neff suggested the epigenetic influences which can change gene expression is not something that makes him a happy camper.  If in fact we find that dogs with the exact same genetic code can vary greatly in the expression of behaviors and intelligence/motivation then his work becomes a lot less useful.  Perhaps it is helpful to think of the dogs DNA as a tool set and how the animal or breed uses that tool set is a factor of environment, training, parental education, and epigenetic influences.  Dr. Neff sometimes presents things as written in stone when in fact as we go along in learning about gene expression, gene switching, and epigenetics we find many things are written in Jello and not stone.

If I can find other lectures by Mark Neff PhD Jeff PhD, I'd be happy. The sizes of chromosones vary considerably, (39 or 23, but the size of each?). He says it is the number of genes that is about the same. bubbabooboo the other lectures you posted are nice as well.

I believe his name is actually Mark Neff  ... some links below

http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/multimedia/podcasts/the-genetics-of-canine.html

http://wenaha.blogspot.com/2008/04/genetics-of-pointing.html

http://chinookclubofamerica.org/health.htm

http://akcchf.libsyn.com/webpage/the-genetics-of-canine-behavior

http://thebark.com/content/deconstructing-gene-pool