This November, please join our Paws 4 Paws challenge by walking 100kms with your dog/s in 30 days, and getting sponsored to do so! Continue reading
Join the big DNA Dog walk!
Category: Events
Help us cross the line!
Earlier this week, Dr. Cathryn Mellersh gave an online presentation where she highlighted a few of the significant milestones the Canine Genetics Centre has reached, and shared an important message about the future. We hope you joined us but if not, you can watch the presentation below and read more about what we are aiming to achieve. Continue reading
It’s National DNA Day today!
April 25th is National DNA Day and commemorates the day in 1953 when James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins and co-workers published the structure of DNA in the journal Nature. Continue reading
Canine Genetics Research Day 2025
On Friday March 21st, 2025, the Canine Genetics Centre team welcomed thirty enthusiastic delegates to the University of Cambridge’s West Hub building for their second Research Day.
Over the course of the day the delegates were treated to talks on the CGC’s inherited eye disease, idiopathic epilepsy and intervertebral disc disease research and how the CGC investigates new and emerging diseases. The talks were well received, with everyone asking lots of questions and really engaging with the researchers about the work that the CGC does. Continue reading
Presentation about the CGC Biobank – What? Uses? Why?
The CGC’s DNA sample collection is unique. Developed over the last quarter of a century, and comprising DNA samples from over 42,000 different dogs, it has been used to identify over 30 different mutations that cause inherited diseases in well over 40 different breeds. But beyond its historic use, the CGC’s sample collection is the foundation for all the CGC’s current research projects, including our investigations of inherited eye diseases, idiopathic epilepsy and intervertebral disc disease. Continue reading
Crufts 2025: The world’s greatest dog show
Members of the Canine Genetics Centre team have attended Crufts, the World’s greatest dog show, for as long as any of us can remember. Crufts has always been a great opportunity for us to meet up with breeders, owners and Breed Club representatives with whom we have been working closely, to update them on their various research projects and to discuss new potential areas of research. And customers of our DNA testing service, Canine Genetics Testing (CAGT), have also been able to purchase DNA tests at Crufts, typically at a special discounted rate. Continue reading
Where are we now? – CGC updates via an online presentation
On November 14th 2024 Dr. Cathryn Mellersh, Head of the Canine Genetics Centre, gave an online presentation to our supporters and stakeholders. Cathryn started her presentation by summarising the areas of research that the CGC has been involved with over the last twelve months, including details of the impressive list of peer-reviewed publications that the team has produced. Continue reading
Tuning in to canine conversations: CGC and Wisdom Panel hit the airwaves
On 1 November, Dr. Cathryn Mellersh, principal investigator at the Canine Genetics Centre, and Karen Wild, clinical animal behaviourist, dog trainer, and author, participated in a series of radio interviews across the UK. The aim was to engage listeners in the science behind Wisdom Panel’s latest DNA testing innovation, which explores the genetic foundations of dog behaviour. Wisdom Panel has launched a pioneering behaviour insights feature within its portfolio of dog DNA tests, making it the only dog DNA service to characterise the genetic links influencing dogs’ individual tendencies – from splooting to anxiety and much more. Continue reading
CGC’s relay runners run rings round London landmarks
On Sunday 1st September, five runners teamed up on behalf of “Team CGC” to take part in London’s Big Relay – to raise money to support the Canine Genetics Centre and its idiopathic epilepsy (IE) research. It turns out that relays involve a lot more planning than the average race (which station is nearest to which start point? What time does each runner need to be in place? Who will look after whose kit bag…?), but the preparations paid off and after an early start all five runners were at their various start points, spread out from Tower Bridge to Canary Wharf, in plenty of time and raring to go. Continue reading
Cocker Crazy at the KC International Agility Festival!
Last weekend we attended one of the largest Dog Agility shows in the UK, the Kennel Club International Agility Festival (KCIAF), where we met up with over 100 Cocker Spaniels. We were collecting data for research into Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) as part of Bruno’s PhD. Continue reading
