The MacBlog asks how much is enough when it comes to breeding dogs for specialized characteristics:
108 years of linebreeding has locked into our gene pool genetic predisposition for bladder cancer, among other genetic problems, making our breed some 20 times more likely to die of bladder cancer than other dogs. As a result, Scotties have the unwelcome ‘honor’ to be canine subjects for current NIH Cancer Research into the genetics of bladder cancer because the inbreeding over the past century that shrank our gene pool to a gene puddle inadvertently created a small, inbred, genetically imperiled, population ideal for genome mapping.
See also this article from Britain’s Daily Telegraph on heriditary disease threatening purebred dogs.
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AnnB is an investigative reporter and aspiring dog media mogul who writes almost every day about Scottish Terriers.
