Photo: GettyA new study into how long dogs live busts the myththat each human year is equivalent to seven years for dogs.A commonly held belief is that a dog ages seven times faster than humans, so a one-year-old dog is comparable to a seven-year-old child.But the reality is that large breeds age ten times quicker than humans, and some small dogs can be age slower than the supposed 1:7 human year to dog year ratio.Now scientists are studying the genomes of 10,000 dogs in a long-term study called theDog Aging Project. Researchers hope they will learn why “supercentenarian” dogs that live to 20 can survive so long and use these findings to improve canine and human longevity.Professor Joshua Akey, at Princeton University, told SWNS, “This is a very large, ambitious, wildly interdisciplinary project that has the potential to be a powerful resource for the broader scientific community.““Personally, I find this project exciting because I think it will improve dog, and ultimately, human health,” he added.The researchers hope to identify specific biomarkers of canine aging.“This is the first study of its kind in dogs, and I think it’s a clever way of trying to find genetic differences that contribute to exceptional longevity,” Professor Akey said.The research team anticipates that their findings will translate to human aging, for several reasons: Dogs experience nearly every functional decline and disease of aging that people do; the extent of veterinary care parallels human healthcare in many ways; and our dogs share our lived environments, a significant determinant of aging and one that cannot be replicated in any lab setting.“Given that dogs share the human environment and have a sophisticated health care system but are much shorter-lived than people, they offer a unique opportunity to identify the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with healthy lifespan,” University of Washington professor Daniel Promislow, a principal investigator for the study, said.The project was outlined in the journalNature.
Photo: Getty
A new study into how long dogs live busts the myththat each human year is equivalent to seven years for dogs.A commonly held belief is that a dog ages seven times faster than humans, so a one-year-old dog is comparable to a seven-year-old child.But the reality is that large breeds age ten times quicker than humans, and some small dogs can be age slower than the supposed 1:7 human year to dog year ratio.Now scientists are studying the genomes of 10,000 dogs in a long-term study called theDog Aging Project. Researchers hope they will learn why “supercentenarian” dogs that live to 20 can survive so long and use these findings to improve canine and human longevity.Professor Joshua Akey, at Princeton University, told SWNS, “This is a very large, ambitious, wildly interdisciplinary project that has the potential to be a powerful resource for the broader scientific community.““Personally, I find this project exciting because I think it will improve dog, and ultimately, human health,” he added.The researchers hope to identify specific biomarkers of canine aging.“This is the first study of its kind in dogs, and I think it’s a clever way of trying to find genetic differences that contribute to exceptional longevity,” Professor Akey said.The research team anticipates that their findings will translate to human aging, for several reasons: Dogs experience nearly every functional decline and disease of aging that people do; the extent of veterinary care parallels human healthcare in many ways; and our dogs share our lived environments, a significant determinant of aging and one that cannot be replicated in any lab setting.“Given that dogs share the human environment and have a sophisticated health care system but are much shorter-lived than people, they offer a unique opportunity to identify the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with healthy lifespan,” University of Washington professor Daniel Promislow, a principal investigator for the study, said.The project was outlined in the journalNature.
A new study into how long dogs live busts the myththat each human year is equivalent to seven years for dogs.
A commonly held belief is that a dog ages seven times faster than humans, so a one-year-old dog is comparable to a seven-year-old child.
But the reality is that large breeds age ten times quicker than humans, and some small dogs can be age slower than the supposed 1:7 human year to dog year ratio.
Now scientists are studying the genomes of 10,000 dogs in a long-term study called theDog Aging Project. Researchers hope they will learn why “supercentenarian” dogs that live to 20 can survive so long and use these findings to improve canine and human longevity.
Professor Joshua Akey, at Princeton University, told SWNS, “This is a very large, ambitious, wildly interdisciplinary project that has the potential to be a powerful resource for the broader scientific community.”
“Personally, I find this project exciting because I think it will improve dog, and ultimately, human health,” he added.
The researchers hope to identify specific biomarkers of canine aging.
“This is the first study of its kind in dogs, and I think it’s a clever way of trying to find genetic differences that contribute to exceptional longevity,” Professor Akey said.
The research team anticipates that their findings will translate to human aging, for several reasons: Dogs experience nearly every functional decline and disease of aging that people do; the extent of veterinary care parallels human healthcare in many ways; and our dogs share our lived environments, a significant determinant of aging and one that cannot be replicated in any lab setting.
“Given that dogs share the human environment and have a sophisticated health care system but are much shorter-lived than people, they offer a unique opportunity to identify the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with healthy lifespan,” University of Washington professor Daniel Promislow, a principal investigator for the study, said.
The project was outlined in the journalNature.
source: people.com
