Difference? A single gene

2007/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Genetika
• Zoologia

The dog is a species raised by man, and the selection gives rise to very different races. For example, the difference between the tiny Chihuahua and an Irish hunting dog is evident, especially its size. Therefore, both breed dogs are very suitable to study the genetic base of the size of dogs. In this they have worked at the Human Genome Research Institute of the United States and, sequenced by the genes of several dogs, have discovered that the one that separates large and small dogs is a single gene.

What's more, it seems that the key to the smallness of many canine breeds is in a single nucleotide of the IGF1 gene. This genetic variety of the smallest dogs dates back to remote times (centuries), so when growing the canine races it seems that man chose small specimens.