A Genetic Finding Suggests Mutation to Make Horses More Rideable

        The modern domestication of horses can be dated back to over 4,200 years ago. A team of scientists, led by molecular archaeologist Ludovic Orlando, observed the genomes of ancient horses and compared them to ones of the domesticated horses humans are familiar with today. Whilst studying the genomes, nine specific genes stood out as selected and targeted by human breeders   

 

        One gene recorded was ZFPM1, a gene familiar to scientists as the marker for anxiety levels in mice and human well being. This was one of the first genes selected by breeders around 5,000 years ago, suggesting the original concern for domestication was keeping the horse tamer.

        Interestingly enough, around 300-800 years later, the breeders advanced their selection and the gene Gasdermin C (GSDMC) strongly started to appear. In humans, a mutation of this gene causes chronic back pain and disorders such as spinal stenosis. In horses, it is seen to be related to the body length to body height ratio. 

        Once Orlando and his team discovered horses with this gene mutation when first appearing had 20% more offspring than those without, they ran testing on mice and inactivated their GSDMC genes. This experiment found the mice's spines modified to become straighter and forelimbs to be stronger.

        Orlando concludes "people intended to put that variant more frequently into the population... when you see something like that, you know you're onto something that was a real game changer for horse biology".

        The research done by Orlando and his colleagues is impressive and presents the importance of to be able to fully understand the human selected genes of any animal, in this case horses, it must be compared to the original non-domesticated ancestor. Learning more about the genetic makeup of one of the first animals domesticated by humans can help us further learn about the scientific thought process of our ancestors. 

Sources:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tamed-horses-rideable-genetic-mutation 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene?Db=gene&Cmd=DetailsSearch&Term=56169