When barking up a dog's family tree, it's in the DNA

[Olney Blue]

Source: International Herald Tribune

NEW YORK: Scientists have just discovered the gene fragment that controls the size of dogs, which have the greatest size range of any mammal - no other species produces adults with 100-fold differences, like that between a two-pound Chihuahua and a 200-pound Newfoundland.

In a study to be published Friday in the journal Science, researchers analyzed 3,241 purebred dogs from 143 breeds. Genetically, the tiny yapper arguing with your ankle is almost identical to the drooling behemoth bred to hunt bears, except for a tiny bit of DNA called IGF-1 that suppresses the "insulin-like growth factor 1" gene.

Dog breeders have unwittingly been selecting for it since the last Ice Age. Dogs emerged from the wolf about 15,000 years ago, and as far back as 10,000 years ago, domesticated dogs as big as Great Danes and as small as Jack Russell terriers were trotting the earth.

snip

One thing that makes this "cool biology," she said, is that the same gene suppressor is found in both mice and men, creating mini-mice and suspected in human dwarfism. Because it controls growth gone awry, she said, it will help cancer research, and there are plans to plant it in mice.
But carefully: A mouse the size of a Great Dane, she said, "would be a little scary, wouldn't it?"

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/05/europe/gene.php

[WindRavenX]

1. freakin' awesome

:thumbsup:

[Bjornsdotter]

2. Time to build

...a better mouse trap! :evilgrin:

Cheers

[Olney Blue]

6. LOL!

[orwell]

3. Does this mean...

...I can have a Mini-Me?

[Olney Blue]

7. Only if he/she registers as a Democrat!

[CoffeeCat]

4. I can see it now...

...German Shepherds the size of cotton balls!

[tridim]

5. Pro sports have about 10 more semi-pure years left.

Will nine foot basketball players be allowed in the NBA?

[xchrom]

8. in the beginning

in the beginning

god created man

but seeing him so feeble,

he gave him the dog.

toussenel