Could the study of canine diseases advance human health?

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Could the study of canine diseases advance human
health?
Karter Ashworth 01/04/2014
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• The genetic sequence for dogs is extraordinarly
  similar to that of humans. Many genes causing a
  disease in dogs may also be the cause of the
  condition in humans.

• Pets are often used for these studies. Since they
  live in the same environment as humans this gives
  the dog another advantage over alternate disease
  models.

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• Canines will sair the same behaviours as their
  owners. If an owner eats junk food, odds are the
  dog eats the scraps. A lazy owner will negeclt to
  walk a dog making dogs and their owners relativly
  equil.

• It is easier to find genes causing disease in
  dogs than in humans. Since humans have been
  breeding dogs for hundreds of years. This has
  lowered diversity in their genes

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• This reasearch method far surpasses using humans.
  We can find disease-causing genes with only a few
  hundred dogs, compaired to thousands of patients
  needed for research.

• Usings dogs to research genes is not considered
  cruel since the research benefits both species
  equilly.

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There are multiple factors when looking at
certain diseases in humans, along with the fact
we are a complex organism. These variables
commonly hinder the search for finding the
underlying cause of a disease.

• Since the article explores both the ethical and
  scientific repercussions I detect no bias in the
  news story.

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Using canines for investigation has already led
to advances in our understanding. The
identification of the genetic basis of narcolepsy
in dogs led investigators to a previously unknown
pathway in the brain, leading to the development
in a treatment for haemophilia

• A study in Genome Biology has identified four
  genes that are associated with OCD in dogs. 2

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ENDNOTES
1 Crouch, L. (2014, March 22). Dog disease
could be boon for human medicine. Retrieved from
http//www.bbc.com/news/health-26679218
2Lindblad-Toh, K., Karlsson, E. K. (2014,
March 14). Candidate genes and functional
noncoding variants identified in a canine model
of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Retrieved from
http//genomebiology.com/2014/15/3/R25