BETHESDA, Md., July 14 (UPI) -- The National Human Genome Research Institute says it has placed the first draft of the dog genome sequence it has assembled in free databases for public use.
The Bethesda, Md.-based agency, a unit of the National Institutes of Health, said the databases will allow biomedical and veterinary researchers around the globe to use the material.
The genome effort was led by Kerstin Lindblad-Toh of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Agencourt Bioscience Corp., of Beverly, Mass..
The breed of the dog chosen for the study was the boxer because it was found to have the least amount of variation in its genome and thus likely to provide the most reliable reference genome sequence.
The researchers are comparing the dog and human genome sequences and plan to publish their results in the coming months.
They said the dog genome is similar in size to the genomes of humans and other mammals, containing approximately 2.5 billion DNA base pairs.
Due to a long history of selective breeding, many dogs are prone to genetic diseases that are difficult to study in humans, such as cancer, heart disease, deafness, blindness and autoimmune disorders.
