The Canine Genetics Centre has worked closely with many breeds over the years, to investigate inherited disorders that represent a challenge to their health. In the next of our series, we focus on the Gordon Setter, a breed that the CGC started to work alongside over 15 years ago, when a new and emerging form of late onset progressive retinal atrophy first became apparent in this breed. Continue reading
At the beginning of March 2025 the Canine Genetics Centre launched a genetic test for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) in Keeshonds. The research underpinning the new test was achieved in collaboration with Professor Claire Wade (University of Sydney), Professor Kerstin Lindblad-Toh (Uppsala University and the Broad Institute), Dr Barbara Skelly (University of Cambridge) and dedicated members of the Keeshond community, without whom the work would not have been possible. The journey to develop a DNA test for PHPT started way back in 2000, with a special dog called Anni, and in for month’s spotlight article Anni’s owner and breeder, Jane Saunders, very kindly tells the story in her own words: Continue reading
This is the second in our series of ‘Spotlight’ articles where we focus on a breed that the Canine Genetics Centre (CGC) has worked closely with over many years to investigate the inheritance of disorders that represent a challenge to their health. This time we describe our work with the Italian Spinone breed community to understand the underlying genetics of two devastating diseases, one of which has now had a DNA test available for over 15 years that has been successfully used to reduce the number of affected dogs born with this debilitating disease. Continue reading
The Canine Genetics Centre has worked closely with many breeds over the years, to investigate inherited disorders that represent a challenge to their health. In the first of a series of ‘Spotlight’ articles we would like to share the story of how we worked with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier community to understand the underlying genetics of two serious and debilitating diseases and develop DNA tests for them both, thus providing the tools with which to eradicate both these conditions from this much-loved breed. Continue reading
