For those interested, this is the published abstract relating to the discovery of a gene for muscular dystrophy in cavaliers, referred to in a letter in a vet journal in the UK asking vets to help contribute to a better understanding on incidence.
As noted in the abstract, the gene has been identified in (only) three other breeds (all named) and in each breed, different genes are involved. This work is seen as important for understanding the affliction generally in dogs as well as humans. As with ongoing SM genome work, these are researchers hoping to benefit both dogs and human sufferers. By singling out a specific breed (the cavalier) for gene sequencing in this way, researchers believe humans may have a direct therapy benefit for a terrible, disabling disease that was not available from the results obtained from the other three breeds done. : -) I am certainly glad this work is being done on cavaliers -- as can be seen by the mix of US and UK researchers, as well as vet and human researchers (UC San Diego med school and the University College London Institute of Child Health -- I hope this reassures people that no one is targetting cavaliers to make them less appealing.
If people are concerned that too much research work is being done on cavalier health problems compared to other breeds, I encourage anyone to use one of the online scholarly publication databases and do some searches on various breeds. Cavaliers actually return quite a small number of studies, almost all done on 2 conditions, MVD and SM in the past 10-15 years (and in many of the MVD andother studies, cavaliers are simply part of a large sample). Other breeds can return many times as many published health-related papers. Fortunately for many of those breeds, the research work has resulted in direct therapies, genetic tests, and knowledge that has let breeders breed away from the problem. Hopefully cavaliers will benefit likewise from past and ongoing research funded by clubs, institutes and individuals.
As noted in the abstract, the gene has been identified in (only) three other breeds (all named) and in each breed, different genes are involved. This work is seen as important for understanding the affliction generally in dogs as well as humans. As with ongoing SM genome work, these are researchers hoping to benefit both dogs and human sufferers. By singling out a specific breed (the cavalier) for gene sequencing in this way, researchers believe humans may have a direct therapy benefit for a terrible, disabling disease that was not available from the results obtained from the other three breeds done. : -) I am certainly glad this work is being done on cavaliers -- as can be seen by the mix of US and UK researchers, as well as vet and human researchers (UC San Diego med school and the University College London Institute of Child Health -- I hope this reassures people that no one is targetting cavaliers to make them less appealing.
If people are concerned that too much research work is being done on cavalier health problems compared to other breeds, I encourage anyone to use one of the online scholarly publication databases and do some searches on various breeds. Cavaliers actually return quite a small number of studies, almost all done on 2 conditions, MVD and SM in the past 10-15 years (and in many of the MVD andother studies, cavaliers are simply part of a large sample). Other breeds can return many times as many published health-related papers. Fortunately for many of those breeds, the research work has resulted in direct therapies, genetic tests, and knowledge that has let breeders breed away from the problem. Hopefully cavaliers will benefit likewise from past and ongoing research funded by clubs, institutes and individuals.
