Dogs, DNA and the mess we will make

[GSD]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/science/12dog.html

I meant to put this in the world wide news section, but for some reason I don't have "permission" to post there I guess, so I thought I'd make it a debate.

I personally think this is a very slippery slope we're starting to walk in terms of genetics and DNA. for all we know about it, we know just enough to be dangerous. We don't understand what turns genes on or off, how they influence each other, or even understand what a simple majority of genes do, let alone what all of them do.

Just because we can find common markers, etc in genomes of certain animals doesn't mean we should go around messing with them. There is MUCH MUCH MORE to life than genes. Yes they are a part of life, yes they help us express life, yes they appear to be building blocks, but they don't make something alive, or give it life. Once we start messing with the genes and arrangement, we create things we won't have a clue how to fix. Ever wonder why so many people seem to be coming down with food allergies once they started putting genetically modified foods on the shelves of grocery stores?

I'm not saying it shouldn't be studied, but using it to create "super" dogs etc or super humans is a path best avoided right now. But Humans are so stupid we will end up destroying ourselves somehow, since we seem to be so arrogant as well we might as well destroy ourselves thinking we're smarter than nature or God, or whomever you believe created life.

[KennelMom]

People have been manipulating the dog's gene pool for thousands of years. Now, they're just doing it with a little more science behind it. For example, being able to mark and eliminate genetic illnesses in a breed is a good thing, I think. And using genes to select for color or other "fluff" traits is really no different than understanding if you cross X color with Y color you can get X, Y, XY, whatever colors and choosing breeding stock to obtain the desired results. And THAT is exactly what humans have been doing...that's how we ended up with chihuahua's and mastiffs...selecting FOR largeness, smallness, coat type, etc...

There will always be intangible qualities that good breeders know you can't test genetically for. You can have the world's fastest whippet, but if that dog doesn't have the heart or competitive drive then it's all for naught.

[GSD]

IMO, before they manipulated with a total dog in mind, GSD for example. They got great dogs. When they narrowed it down to side gaiting or black and red saddles, the overall quality of the animal greatly suffered, I see it everyday. Now they'll just be able to be even more narrow in their scope of breeding, which IMO will create a whole new host of problems

[KennelMom]

But they did that before DNA testing anyway. Take the whippet breeding - they bred fast to fast to fast to fast and bullies started popping up. Now they can isolate *why* and decide how to deal with it as a breed club or individual breeder. It is an moral dilemma for breeders whether they are willing to sacrifice one pup out of X litters in order to get faster dogs or they value each pup and want to give the entire litter the best chance possible for being born normal. Racing isn't just about speed anyway. It's my understanding from a whippet breeder, that this problem is coming from more novice breeders who are just breeding fast to fast w/o taking into account other things.

I think the "old fashioned" way of selective breeding has done a pretty bang up job of screwing up "the dog." Breeds that can't birth naturally, have breathing, walking, joint, vision or other issues due to their selected for conformation.

I swear I watch a dog show and sometimes wonder if it's some sick version of "Extreme Dogs" - how loooooong can they stretch out a daschund, how wrinkly can they get a bloodhound, how deep can they get the chest on a greyhound, how flat can they get the face on a pekinese or how slanted can they get the back of a GSD? These extreme features may be favored in the show ring but, my doG, do they ever step back and look at the freaky dogs they are creating? I honestly don't know how many of them function as an individual, much less perform the jobs they were originally designed to do (if there was one).

Maybe DNA testing will make it all worse...but I think we've taken it pretty darn far without knowing a lot of the DNA behind it. Like anything else, we have to hope breeders use this knowledge for good (eliminating the bully gene) rather than "evil" (exploiting it at the expense of individual animals).