Scientists trace golden retriever disorder
Scientists in Sweden have tracked down the source of sensory ataxic neuropathy (SAN) — a recently identified neurological disorder in golden retrievers.
The disease strikes goldens in puppyhood, causing them to move in an uncoordinated manner and have sensory deficits.
The researchers were able to trace back all affected offspring on the maternal side, over more than 10 generations, to a female that lived during the 1970s, confirming that SAN is caused by a mutation in the mitochondrial DNA.
The study by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institutet was published May 29 in the journal PLoS Genetics.
The researchers showed that about five percent of the golden retriever population in Sweden carries the mutation causing SAN — and that, with proper screening by breeders, the disorder could be eliminated.
“This is a good example of how a close collaboration between clinicians and geneticists led to a rapid detection of a harmful mutation that can now be eliminated from this dog population to reduce suffering and disease,” said co-author Karin Hultin Jäderlund.
Posted by jwoestendiek June 2nd, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: detection, disease, disorder, dna, generations, genetics, golden retriever, maternal, mitochondrial, mutation, san, science, screening, sensory ataxic neuropathy, sweden, swedish, swedish university of agricultural sciences
