In a pioneering study, the Dog Aging Project, launched in 2018, is breaking new ground in research into dog longevity and its implications for human health. More than 32,000 dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes from the United States are taking part in this ambitious project, which promises to be one of the largest canine aging studies to date.
The project, which is expected to last at least 10 years, seeks to better understand the aging process in dogs, considering that these animals share many aspects of the human environment and receive veterinary care comparable to human health care. The study is led by Joshua Akey, a professor at Princeton's Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, and Elinor Karlsson, from the Broad Institute, along with other experts.
One of the most exciting aspects of the project is the analysis of the DNA of dogs that live exceptionally long lives, compared to the "super-centenarians" of the canine world. The team hopes to identify specific biomarkers of canine ageing and, by extension, human ageing.
The owners of the participating dogs agree to fill out annual surveys and provide samples such as cheek swabs for DNA analysis. In addition, a collaboration with veterinarians across the country allows for the collection of hair, feces, urine and blood samples from some members of the "DAP Pack", as the participating dogs are called.
Daniel Promislow, principal investigator of the project funded by the National Institute on Aging and professor of biology at the University of Washington, points out that dogs offer a unique opportunity to identify genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with a healthy and long life.
The team plans to open up its vast, fully anonymized dataset to scientists from all over the world, hoping that the findings could transform veterinary medicine, aging research and many other fields of study.
Kate Creevy, lead author of the article on the project and veterinary director of the DAP, expresses her pride at sharing the results with the scientific community, emphasizing the transformative potential of the Canine Ageing Project.
