Genetics

Beekeeper by Andrzej Kuhn
“Beekeeper”
by Andrzej Kihn

“Having once been an avid beekeeper,
I had always found the life of the colonies
to be both a source of fascination
and one of enduring wonder.
Until you have spent a tranquil day
in the spring sitting next to a hive of bees
and watching their comings and goings,
you have not truly experienced
the grandeur of the natural world.

Simply because the survival and welfare
of the colony demands it,
older bees revert to a more juvenile character,
adult lives are extended from 6 weeks
to as long as 3 or 4 months,
older hive bees revert to tasks that
were the province of their younger sisters.

Obviously, in the bee we are seeing an exquistie interplay
of gene expression, environment, and social dynamics
that are primarily orchestrated
by the pheromonal secrations of the queen.
There is an intelligence in this,
but one that speaks to us softly and in an alien tongue.”
Jim Selzer

Genetics load the gun. Chemicals pull the trigger.

Beekeeping, written by Jim Selzer, Willowind Dalmations, posted October 11, 2003 on CANGEN, is a beautiful example of the continual dance performed by Mother Nature. An avid student of genetics, in the past years Debby has been exploring population genetics, diversity principals, management of small populations and ways the modern dog breeder can utilize this knowledge in a breeding program. Historically, linebreeding, inbreeding, outcrossing, recessive and dominant inheritance have been the main lessons taught to dog breeders. It is time to explore beyond these basic lessons. In this spirit the following musings, articles, essays, editorials are offered for contemplation.

As purebred dog breeders, we have chosen to intervene in Mother Nature’s intricate dance. Our responsibility, the future welfare of our breed, depends on our knowledge and our choices. Ir. E. J. Gubbels expands on this in his essay, Genetic Management of Dog Breed Populations:

“Our breeding has now come to the point that we have to make choices.
1.    We must attune the use (the contribution to the next generation) of breeding animals to the size of the population. No single dog should have an impact on the genetic composition of subsequent generations such that ‘genetic disasters’ can arise.
2.    If we do this we can once again make effective use of the old method of ‘individual selection’, and take first steps towards genuine improvement of the health and well-being condition of the breeds.
3.    We will have to provide breeders with instruments that allow them to give steering to the level of inbreeding in their lines. The use of inbreeding can be advantageous in breeding, but it must remain an instrument rather than turn into an irreversible and unavoidable force.
4.    Over and above the individual selection that has been applied since 1900 we must make modern methods of selection available for dog breeding (breeding value estimates, genetic risk assessments).

In short, this means that we must first make sure that we do not add to our problems (1), that we next use currently available methods to work on improvement (2), that we must make haste to provide breeders with modern instruments to guide breeding with and to combat problems in our dogs (3 and 4). It is only then that we can justifiable talk about responsible genetic management of our pure-bred dog populations.”

Roger Hild, in a cross posted message to the apsolist, dated October 1, 2003, presents an alternative view to our traditional thinking. I encourage you to read it.

A Conservation Breeding Handbook by D. Phillip Sponenberg and Carolyn J. Christman

A New Kind of Breeder by Dr. Carmen Battaglia

All Dogs Are Carriers (of multiple mutations) by Mary H. Whiteley, Ph.D

Basic Genetic Concepts by Dr. John Armstrong

Breadth of Pedigree by Dr. Carmen Battaglia

Breeding Better Dogs by Carmen L. Battaglia, Ph.D.

Color Genes by Dr. John Armstrong

Control of Canine Genetic Diseases by George A. Padgett, DVM

Creating A New Breed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia

Dog DNA study reveals new role for protein by Julie Steenhuysen

DOGenes

Dominant with incomplete penetrance Definition by Dr. Mary Whiteley