Ancestry for your pets?

    Genetic testing on your dog may sound cruel, however a somewhat recent advancement in canine ancestry testing makes it as simple as a cheek swab to determine an adopted mutts entire family tree. An article from Cornell reveals that doing these ancestry tests is not only good for satisfying an owners curiosity, but can reveal countless risk factors and things to be aware of with their dogs. Simply put, the more an owner knows about their pet the better its life is likely to be; they can watch out breed specific issues cancer, arthritis, separation anxiety, etc. (article on breed specific health issues)

New Genetic Discoveries Lead to a Better Understanidng of Bipolar Disorder

A study from March 2025 reveals new discoveries and research regarding Bipolar Disorder and how we may able to treat it with more precision in the future. The study is the largest of its kind to date, with almost 3 million control subjects and over 150,000 people with Bipolar Disorder all with different ancestries, ranging from European to African, Asian, and Latino. To identify the participants, many different methods were used, such as a self reporting survey, clinical interviews, medical records, and questionnaire data. An analysis was done to determine the frequencies of BD in each method, and it was discovered that the greatest polygenicity for BD was from the self-reports, followed by the clinical interviews and the questionnaire data respectively. It was also discovered that while Bipolar I was more heritable, the correlation between self-reporting BD I and BD was significantly lower than people with BD II self-reporting BD. 298 different loci were identified  to be significant in BD, which is significantly higher than what was previously thought. People were also analyzed on an ancestral basis, with each background being found to be slightly different in identification and hereditary data.

 

 These discoveries in genetic mapping and architecture can help identify and treat BD more effectively in the future. If we are able to identify different causes, then in the future we can identify the problem quicker and treat the disease on a per-person basis. This data could allow for everyone to be treated as their own case instead of one broad treatment for everyone. BD effects everyone differently, and with these new here hereditary links, a new foundation can be laid out to more effectively treat people based off their backgrounds and environments.

 Additional article

Extinction Solution for Thousands of Species Thanks to Gene Editing

 

        

       Ethical genome engineering has been making exceptional progress in the stride to rehabilitate endangered species and their compromised ecosystems.  Professor Cock Van Oosterhout and Dr. Stephen Turner's team of geneticists and bio-technologists claim recovery of lost genetic diversity in endangered species can be restored with the help of historic DNA samples. Van Oosterhout states "Gene engineering provides a way to restore that variation, whether it's reintroducing DNA variation that has been lost from immune-system genes that we can retrieve from museum specimens or borrowing climate-tolerance genes from closely related species". This statement suggests that by figuring out what gene is compromising a species, such as lack of climate change tolerance, scientists can extract a wanted gene from a relative species and introduce this to the compromised species. 

    One example of this successful application is the restoration of the once critically endangered pink pigeon (pictured below). This species was down to 10 known birds and brought back up to over 600, thanks to three key methods: restoration of variation that was once lost, facilitating adaptation, and reducing the passing of harmful mutations to following generations. 

    

Figure 1: newborn genetically altered pink pigeon 

    Some risks factors of this method include unintentional genetic modifications and reductions, therefore until percent error is mitigated, this approach remains experimental. 

    This method of attempting to help endangered species seems simple, yet practical. By introducing new technologies with what scientists already know about the species and their ancestors,  solutions can be suggested and practical applications can be made. Although gene alteration is not a replacement to species protection,  this is a hopeful positive step in the rehabilitation of many organisms, and perhaps one day the term "extinction" will be endangered. 

Sources

https://phys.org/news/2025-07-gene-solution-endangered-species.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250720034017.htm 

NOVA1: The Mystery of the Squeaky Mouse

The language gene, known as NOVA1, has two main variations, one apparent in most mammals and one specific to humans, both of which underwent a change many years ago. When the gene appeared on a list of evolutionary protein-coding genes in 2012, Dr. Robert Darnell’s interest was sparked, as he is the scientist who discovered the gene in 1993. Another scientist named Dr. Siepel found that the original NOVA1 gene changed after our human ancestors parted ways from Neanderthals and Denisovans, leaving only six individuals as known carriers of the original gene. 

Dr. Darnell and an expert on animal sounds, Dr. Jarvis, found that when inputting the human version of the gene into mice, they made unique sounds and produced squeaks that parallel humans. Similar results were shown when inserting another language gene into mice called FOXP2, which underwent a change similar to NOVA1. Dr. Jarvis has interpreted these results to hypothesize that Neanderthals and Denisovans could talk and communicate because of the gene FOXP2. Testing this hypothesis will lead to more engineering of mice with these genetic mutations, which may give rise to even more intricate sounds.

I find the differences in how language is viewed in mice compared to humans fascinating. We share these language genes, yet have different sounds, while mice's squeak humans can speak various languages and sounds. 

New Relatives

 

     Almost ten years ago archaeologists discovered the remains of a neanderthal dubbed the name Thorin and for those ten years archaeologists have been gathering teeth and excavating the area known as Grotte Mandrin in France. With new technology and knowledge on the subject of genetics researchers are able to accurately analyze Thorin's DNA and discover his story within his remains. From the analysis it was revealed that the neanderthal was originally from an isolated lineage of neanderthals that broke away from a bigger group and stayed isolated within the Grotte Mandrin area 42-50,000 years ago. This isolation later led to inbreeding which can be told from the analysis of the DNA and genetic code. What surprised researchers was that in the area there were other groups of neanderthals but they hadn't interacted at all even thought they were only a two weeks walk away. It is believed that due to the inbreeding the isolated population had become vulnerable due to less genetic diversity and within their community the were content on staying in one area.

    Some Researchers theorize that there is another population like Thorin's and there could've been even more smaller populations isolated that did not move because they didn't have the same drive to expand and explore like homo sapiens did at the time. Homo sapiens around this age were building social networks and were able to adapt better to changes than neanderthals were. This is also is one of the reasons why researchers believe that the neanderthal population went extinct because of inbreeding and not being able to adapt the way homo sapiens were able to. This revelation can lead deeper into the history behind lost ancient relatives and give more information to back up what really happened to the neanderthals and why were so many isolation themselves to small populations when there were other populations nearby.

Source: 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-dna-reveals-neanderthal-group-was-isolated-for-50000-years-180985068/

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-dna-unveils-unknown-neandertals 

Secrets of Horse Genetics for Conservation Breeding

 

In a recent study conducted by Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine they have discovered more information about the Y chromosome which will help horse owners determine optimal lineage for both breeding, conservation of different horse breeds, and maintaining biodiversity. 

The Y chromosome has been difficult for scientist to sequence due to its complex structure. It was even believed at times that the Y chromosome did not contribute much to biodiversity. However the research from Dr. Gus Cothran led by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna proves to show that the Y chromosome is a essential part in biodiversity. 

In his research Cothran screened DNA samples from male horses worldwide, to allow him to trace the ancestorial roots of these horses. He studied stallion mediated breeding which is faster in analyzing a stallions offspring rather then looking into the mare as stallions can produce hundreds of offspring in there life time while mares can only produce a few every so often. Analyzing this provides information's on optimal breeding lines. This new research on ancestral Y chromosomal tracing allows for further expansion on the pedigree. Normal pedigrees only show a few generations, this research can go back to show the evolution of the individuals breeding lines. 

This research is vital as learning the past breeding allows for owners and scientist to maintain biodiversity. Breeding programs face issues such as in breeding, which can then cause health defects such as infertility, or club foot. It can even help when looking into conserving specific horse breeds as knowing what sires influenced which bloodlines it which to use or avoid. Such as if one carries genetic health concerns you know not to breed them.

This research is vital to the horse world . Being able to understand, trace back, and analyze the past breeding's and pedigree of stallions further then just a few generations can help preserve the health and diversity of different horse breeds. Some stallions in past history have been known carriers for lethal genetic mutations, and by knowing how to avoid and or properly breed these horses is crucial for the off spring health and survival. 

Links:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241119181604.htm

https://today.tamu.edu/2024/11/19/texas-am-researchers-uncover-secrets-of-horse-genetics/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20we%20recently%20published%20in,horse%20breeding%20history%20and%20evolution.%E2%80%9D