Last Updated on February 19, 2016 : :

The ISCGB are delighted to announce that since being assigned a confirmed position on the Animal Health Trust’s Give a Dog a Genome 50 list, the ISCGB are also funding the sequencing of 3 further dogs which will be chosen by the AHT as being the most beneficial to the breed at present.

You can read all about the project on the AHT website at http://www.aht.org.uk/gdg. 

The AHT would once again like to thank the Italian Spinone community for participating in Give a Dog a Genome (GDG).

Since the last update was sent out in they have been working very hard. Although it may not seem like it at times, they have made significant progress. In summary:

• A total of 86 dogs from 77* breeds will be sequenced as part of GDG.

They asked each breed to complete a small health survey, indicating three health disorders that are currently of concern among your breed community.

• Health forms have been returned by 75 breeds.
• 90 disorders in total have been listed.
• They have assessed 58/75 health forms so far, collating the information from the health forms and determining which dogs we wish to sequence for each breed. This process has taken longer than we anticipated and they are grateful for the continued patience of all breeds, particularly the breeds for which we have yet to assess the health forms.

To keep up the momentum, in addition to assessing the health forms they have also been requesting and processing DNA samples, and sending suitable DNA for whole genome sequencing.

• They have sent off a total of 28 samples from 25 breeds for sequencing.
• These samples encompass a variety of conditions: Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), Hereditary Cataracts, Dilated Cardio Myopathy, Epilepsy, Glaucoma, Ocular Melanosis, Ectopic Ureter, Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease, Mast Cell Tumours, Osteosarcoma and Progressive Retinal Atrophy, as well as a number of older, healthy controls.

What happens next?

The DNA they collect is sent to a commercial sequencing laboratory to be whole genome sequenced. Upon completion the sequencing data is made available to them to download, process and analyse. The volume of data generated for each individual sample is extremely large and takes 3-4 days to download and process, and the analysis will take far longer than that. It is impossible to predict what we will find or how long it will take, but if they find anything relevant they will contact the BHC for the breed in question.

Thank you for your incredible support of and participation in Give a Dog a Genome.