DNA Tests, Citizen Science and You

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212 – November/December, 2022

By Caroline Coile

Many of us remember the bad ol’ days, when we knew enough to know that certain conditions were hereditary, but not enough to know how to prevent them–at least kindly. Was your up-and-coming Irish Setter stud a carrier of PRA? There was only one way to find out: breed him to a PRA-affected dam and see if any puppies were affected. At a couple of months of age the entire litter would go to the ophthalmologist to have electroretinograms performed. If even one puppy was affected, your stud was a carrier and usually removed from the breeding pool. If none were affected, your stud might be clear, but one clear litter wasn’t actually enough statistically to say for sure. And as for the affected puppies? The breeder was left with a heartbreaking decision. Small wonder the first canine DNA tests were aimed at finding the gene responsible for PRA. It turned out to be several genes, of course, depending on the breed.

Available tests grew slowly at first. Then, with the mapping of the canine genome, and much better and faster assaying techniques, they began to grow at a more satisfactory rate, but still not fast enough. Yes, there are DNA tests for hundreds of traits and disorders, but there are hundreds more still to be found. As the number of tests has grown, the choices for having your dog tested have also grown. Some of the smaller companies have been acquired by larger ones. Today the major players in the United States are Embark, Wisdom, VetGen and a few others. Several universities offer just one or two tests. The choice of which company, or test, is best for your dog depends on your dog’s breed and which tests better cover its breed-specific concerns. A good place to compare labs and tests is The International Partnership for Dogs (IPFD) DogWellnet site (www.dogwellnet.com).

Not all labs, or all tests, are created equal. Unfortunately at present no mandated quality controls exist, so theoretically all one need do is open for business and claim your tests work. The Dog WellNet site offers the closest thing to a quality control by comparing the measures taken by various companies, even if they are all voluntarily reported.

Besides the lab, you also need to choose the best test. If you only need results for one test, you can save money by finding a lab that offers that test alone instead of opting for the multi-test panels. And I’ve usually been a proponent of that. Afterall, why test for 200 diseases if only one occurs in your breed? But I may have had a change of heart…

Satisfaction and Surprises

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212 – November/December, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 19 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.