Health Committee July 2005 Report
Vicki Daitch, chairperson
HC@AlaskanMalamute.org
Apparently some people have a hard time following my sometimes long-winded
explanations of what the AMCA’s health committee has been up to, so I thought I
might try putting a few things in an easier format to read. Let me know what
you think.
Here is
a table of some of the AKC
Canine Health Foundation’s grants that relate to malamutes. There are others of
interest, naturally, but these are the ones that have either been funded by AMCA
and/or AMRF or that people have expressed interest in at one time or
another.
|
CHF grant number |
Title of Research |
Research Institution |
Status |
|
1637 |
Identification of DNA
marker(s) for cataracts in purebred dogs, with emphasis on the breeds
Alaskan malamute, Siberian husky, and Samoyed |
Michigan State
University |
Closed |
|
2290 |
Mapping canine
X-chromosome linked alopecia |
University of Missouri |
Closed |
|
305 |
Histocompatibility
alleles conferring susceptibility to canine diabetes, immune-mediated
thyroiditis, and immune-mediated hemolytic anemia |
University of Utah |
Ongoing. Sample
collection through selected veterinary teaching hospitals and
malamute-related web sites (More information at www.malamutehealth.org) |
|
372 |
Determination of
breed-specific reference ranges for assessing thyroid function in several
breeds |
University of Minnesota |
Ongoing. Blood draw
clinic to gather samples will be held during the AMCA National Specialty.
More information will soon be available on the AMCA web site and in the
Newsletter. |
Now for
a quick and dirty update on the status of Michigan State University’s work on
malamute chondrodysplasia, as I understand it. This update arises through
communication with Dr. Housley on behalf of the AMCA health committee.
Project:
Genetics of malamute chondrodysplasia
Research institution:
Michigan State University
Researcher:
Drs.
Donna Housley and Patrick Venta
Funding:
Outside
sources unrelated to AMCA. They are not seeking additional funding at this
time.
Samples:
Though
they are not actively soliciting new samples at this time, it is highly
desirable to add them to the study whenever they become available (such as the
recent dwarf rescue dogs or dogs resulting from test breedings).
Recent activity:
Dr. Housley’s team has
excluded three candidate genes so far. She has also looked at eight or ten
genes for polymorphisms that might be linked to the three possible phenotypes
(affected/carrier/normal). While the results of that research have all been
negative so far, each wrong answer takes us a step closer to the right one. The
bottom line is that Dr. Housley is exploring promising avenues of research that
can be done on a shoestring budget, a great boon to our not-very-wealthy breed
fancy.
What’s next:
Dr. Housley plans to test a candidate gene with a student this summer and to
continue her search for additional candidate genes and polymorphisms to analyze.
Finally, a couple of general DNA
collection projects to explore:
|
Who |
What |
Contact |
|
Waltham
(dog food manufacturer) |
Collecting blood samples
at dog shows to add to its canine DNA
bank for genetic research. Waltham does a significant amount of nutrition
research, and agrees to provide samples to other research institutions with
owner permission |
866-k9genes |
|
University of Missouri |
Canine Phenome Project to collect DNA
for research into where genome and phenome meet. Collecting only from
selected breeds at this time. |
http://www.caninephenome.org/ |
|
