Figures
Golden retrievers carry risk haplotypes predisposing to two different cancers.
Dogs are not only “man's best friend” for their loyalty, they are also the geneticist’s best friend. The artificial breed structure has created genetically isolated groups of dogs, with differential predisposition to diseases they share with us. This facilitates mapping of diseases relevant also to humans. Golden retrievers are predisposed to various cancers, including B-cell lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma. The genetic risk factors for these diseases in humans are still being elucidated. Surprisingly, golden retrievers have two nearby genetic loci with haplotypes predisposing to both diseases. See Tonomura et al.
Image Credit: Mike Lappin
Citation: (2015) PLoS Genetics Issue Image | Vol. 11(2) February 2015. PLoS Genet 11(2): ev11.i02. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pgen.v11.i02
Published: February 27, 2015
Copyright: © 2015 Lappin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Dogs are not only “man's best friend” for their loyalty, they are also the geneticist’s best friend. The artificial breed structure has created genetically isolated groups of dogs, with differential predisposition to diseases they share with us. This facilitates mapping of diseases relevant also to humans. Golden retrievers are predisposed to various cancers, including B-cell lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma. The genetic risk factors for these diseases in humans are still being elucidated. Surprisingly, golden retrievers have two nearby genetic loci with haplotypes predisposing to both diseases. See Tonomura et al.
Image Credit: Mike Lappin