Apparently, the desire to have a dog is hard coded in our genes. This was the conclusion of Swedish scientists after reviewing over 35,000 pairs of twins.
Dog ownership coded by genes, scientists proposed
A unique study conducted by a squad of British and Swedish researchers suggests that dog ownership can be explained by genetic science.
The research was based on the data of 35,035 twin pairs available through the Swedish Twin Registry (STR).
Scientists made a conclusion that the decision of people to have a dog is closely connected with a person’s genetic design.
Choosing a pet
Dogs became our friends way back in the past: The history of our relationship with these amazing animals dates back about 15,000 years. Along with cats, they are considered as the most popular pets that make positive impact on humans’ health and happiness.
Looking into genetic designs of twins provided by the sizable STR database, scientists were trying to find a heritable element of dog ownership. The team provided its professional opinion to online mega journal Scientific Reports.
In the words of Tove Fall, the leader of the research project, “The squad has found a surprising connection between the individual genetic code and his or her owning a dog. This discovery leads to various conclusions in certain areas related to human and dog interplay throughout centuries. Though human tradition to have a companion animal is deeply rooted in the ancient past, its impact on our well-being and feelings has never been extensively studied before now”, continues Mr. Fall who is also a Professor in Molecular Epidemiology at Uppsala University. “We found that some humans seem to be more genetically predisposed to taking care of pets than others.”
His fellow and a Lecturer of Human-Animal Interaction at the Liverpool University, Carri Westgarth, points out, “Studies of various human genetics helped us partially prove that dogs have a favorable effect on the health of their owners.”
Scientists have found that some people are more genetically predisposed to pet care than others.
Genes rule pet preferences?
To understand the dependence of our behavior and physiology on our genes and environment, scientists have long begun studying twins’ genetics. The fact that identical twins have the same DNA, but fraternal ones share only half of it, helps people of science to compare within-pair concordance of dog owners. The thorough research showed that identical twins have much higher concordance rates of having a dog. This proves the idea that our genetics have a great impact on our decision to own a dog.
“Although this scientific work could not reveal exactly which genes are pivotal, but at least it confirmed our idea about the nature of dog ownership. This is exactly what our next stage of research will be devoted to – trying to find out which genetic variations determine the decision to have a dog and their linkage to human personality and his or her biology. It might explain, for instance, the individual genetic predisposition to allergy and play a key role in other medical conditions”, reveals Patrik Magnusson, a senior participant of the research, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and a chief of the STR.
Another member of the team, Keith Dobney, informs that this investigation enabled scientists to understand a complex and enigmatical record of dogs taming. Keith, who takes the lead of Human Palaeoecology at the Liverpool University, explains that after establishing the correct time when the human-dogs relationship began, the main goal of scientists now is to understand the reasons and specifics of this remarkable phenomenon.
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This was interesting to me because there are clear differences between dog and cat people. Here though they re only identifying the name of a gene, not any manifested traits. I looked it up and found no surprises there lol. Dogs are Conservatives, cats are Liberals. Dogs are more successful, bond, are guarded, self protecting, likely to stand at a level in their social queue and striving to step up that ladder, more likely to form a posse and use crowd leverage. Cats couldn’t care less and have an internal “whatever” attitude….. but in a nice way. They are difficult,… Read more »
I have no pets and I don’t want to have any. It is always a problem to feed them, to go on holidays. I would not like to live with a man who has animals at home. Usually all the care must be done by the woman, while the man had wanted the pet for himself. I would not take a risk (and I don’t like dogs or cats).