Dog types

Balto the sled dog is famous for being part of a sled team that delivered medicine from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Nome, Alaska, through harrowing blizzard conditions in 1925. Now, a team of scientists has sequenced the dog’s genome using DNA found in his taxidermied remains.Simone Giertz on Project Failures | Gizmodo Talks The researchers compared Balto’s genome to 682 genomes from modern dogs and wolves; their research is published today in the journal Science.“Balto’s fame and the fact that he was taxidermied gave us this…

Image: Angyalosi Beata (Shutterstock)The French Bulldog, or as they’re more affectionately known, “Frenchies,” are the most popular pup on Instagram, with 37,426,453 on the #FrenchBulldog hashtag. Unfortunately, vets in the UK aren’t falling for Frenchie fever, and point out that hairless French bulldogs are a result of extreme breeding that’s subjecting these dogs to a barrage of genetic abnormalities. Like pugs, Frenchies are short-faced (or brachycephalic) dogs, and this particular skeletal structure can lead to…

An Icelandic sheepdog.Photo: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)A new study may help us understand our canine companions a bit better. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health say they’ve uncovered some of the ways that genes can influence the behaviors of certain breeds, such as dogs meant to herd livestock.For about two decades, a team led by Elaine Ostrander at the National Human Genome Research Institute has been working on the Dog Genome Project. The ultimate goal of the project is to get a grasp on how genetics…

Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)Dogs have been humanity’s stalwart companions for tens of thousands of years. Unfortunately, not every dog is as genetically healthy as they deserve to be, thanks largely to our meddling influence. Over the past few centuries, human-guided breeding has split dogs into hundreds of distinct breeds, based on specifically desired physical characteristics. And sometimes, these characteristics, or the inbreeding needed to create them, can lead to a highrisk of health problems.Scientists,…