Humanity and its dog

A DNA cable scarf is the perfect gift for anyone who's had their genome mapped. Or anyone whose pet's genome has been mapped.

What more suitable commemorative object could there be than a double helix knitted with yarn spun from the lustrous, gene-laden hair of the very organism whose chromosomes have been unravelled?

You need only send the fibre here.

In 2003, genetic researcher J Craig Venter moved on from decoding his own genome to mapping that of his dog, a standard poodle named Shadow. Shadow's hair would probably be better suited to spinning, but I'm sure that someone at the J Craig Venter Institute's laboratories could address that inequity with a bit of mitochondrial cut-and-paste.

When the US government went looking for a dog to map, they chose a boxer named Tasha. Like Venter, boxers do not have hair that is well-suited to spinning.




Researchers at the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California at Davis are using Tasha's genome as the basis for a universal library of canine DNA. They are soliciting oral swabs from each of the world's 500 distinct dog populations.

Prospective donors can apply here

Humans have spent thousands of years making Canis familiaris the most diverse species on earth. Nowhere is this diversity more gloriously displayed than at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which took place earlier this week in New York.