LUPA

Dogs are more than man’s best friends; they can help us unravelling the genetic of diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, cardiovascular troubles, diabetes etc. Living in the same environment, human and dogs are suffering from the same diseases but the genetic complexity is quite lower in dogs. During 4 years 20 veterinary schools spread across Europe are working together to collect 10.000 blood samples from purebred dogs affected by similar diseases as human. The analysis of the genome of affected dogs compared to healthy ones of the same breed lead to the identification of genes implied in the mechanisms of these diseases. This research will help reducing the high level of inherited disease in purebred dogs and will allow a better understanding of the mechanisms and pathways of pathologies.  Human medicine will ultimately benefit from these results. That is why the project is called LUPA as the female-wolf feeding the twin founders of Roma reflecting the benefits humans will obtain from dog genetics.