Here’s a better way to convert dog years to human years, scientists say.

Pedro_P

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A biological clock governs aging in dogs just as in humans.Sergey Ryumin/Getty Images
▼ Our Scotch collie, Buckaroo, is just shy of 14 years old. Following the long-debunked but still popular idea that one dog year equals seven human years, he’s almost a centenarian. (This “formula” may be based on average life spans of 10 and 70 years for dogs and people, respectively.) Now, researchers say they have a new formula(see calculator below) to convert dog years to human years—one with some actual science behind it.
The work is based on a relatively new concept in aging research: that chemical modifications to a person’s DNA over a lifetime create what is known as an epigenetic clock. Scientists have built a case that one such modification, the addition of methyl groups to specific DNA sequences, tracks human biological age—that is, the toll that disease, poor lifestyle, and genetics take on our bodies. As a result, some groups have converted a person’s DNA methylation status to an age  estimate—or even a prediction of life expectancy (worrying ethicists, who say the data could be misusedby forensic investigators and insurance companies).
Other species also undergo DNA methylation as they age. Mice, chimpanzees, wolves, and dogs, for example, all seem to have epigenetic clocks. To find out how those clocks differ from the human version, geneticist Trey Ideker of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues started with dogs. Even though man’s best friends diverged from humans early in mammalian evolution, they’re a good group for comparison because they live in the same environments and many receive similar healthcare and hospital treatments.
All dogs—no matter the breed—follow a similar developmental trajectory, reaching puberty around 10 months and dying before age 20. But to increase their chances of finding genetic factors associated with aging, Ideker’s team focused on a single breed: Labrador retrievers.
They scanned DNA methylation patterns in the genomes of 104 dogs, ranging from 4 weeks to 16 years of age. Their analysis revealed that (▪ ▪ ▪)

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Jbnast

interesting article

abhidebb

Very informative article for dog-owners....
Thank You.

culsivaji

That’s one goal of Kaeberlein, whose group’s new Dog Aging Project (open to all breeds) will include epigenetic profiles of its canine subjects