Genetic Diversity and Health
Here
are links to many articles regarding the impact loss of genetic diversity has
had on the immune system in purebred dogs over the years. A must for all
breeders or wanna-be breeders. Also interesting to intellectual types who
just enjoy learning about the intricacies of attempting to breed purebred dogs
while retaining health.
The following websites are or have articles regarding the direct consequences to the immune system due to inbreeding. Note--geneticists consider line-breeding to be a form of inbreeding as well. In fact they consider nearly all purebred dog breeding to be inbreeding.
http://cc.ysu.edu/~helorime/inbredgen.html
http://members.tripod.com/~Marge_S_2/nonframes/geneticsandhealth.htm
This particular site goes into a bit of detail regarding the loss of MHC in
Akitas due to inbreeding.
MHC regulates the bodies immune system. It MUST be genetically diverse for good
immune system function. In Akitas, the one breed which has been checked, they have
found only 7 of the
possible 32 MHC genes. MHC is Major Histiocompatability Complex.
Here is a whole series of articles regarding
breeding and genetic diversity.
www.canine-genetics.com/ -- this particular site has some interesting longevity studies
www.magmacom.com/~kaitlin/diversity/genetics.html
Here are several more websites that are also
very interesting:
www.lhasa-apso.org/health/divrsity.htm
www.boxerunderground.com/bu2000/mar2000/importing.htm
www.workingdogs.com/doc0192.htm
www.netpets.org/cats/reference/genetics/load.html
More will be added as time goes by. Check
back from time to time.