To do the math: they create a new formula to calculate the “human” age of dogs.

Scientists at the University of California used DNA to do the calculations.

New research makes it possible to more accurately compare the age of dogs with that of humans. To do this, scientists at the University of California, San Diego created a formula based on changes in DNA.

Leaving behind the myth of equivalence between 7 human years and 1 dog year, the researchers turned to an epigenetic mechanism called methylation.

They explain that as we age, "methyl groups are added to our DNA molecules, which can change the activity of a DNA segment without altering it."

The results were published in the journal bioRxiv and refer to the epigenetic clock as a measurement instrument. Geneticists Tina Wang and Trey Ideker compared this human clock to that of dogs.

They took the Labrador Retriever breed as a reference due to the strong homogeneity of its genome. "What increases the possibility of identifying genetic factors associated with complex traits such as aging", they emphasize.

With these data, the published methylation profiles of the blood of 320 humans, aged 1 to 103 years, and 133 mice were compared.

The similarities between dogs and humans
Comparison with human methylomas reveals a non-linear relationship that translates the years from the dog to the human, aligns the timing of the main physiological milestones between the two species and extends to the mice, ”the study details.

Hence, this coincidence of the epigenetic clocks allowed the team of geneticists to consolidate this formula to calculate the “human” age of dogs: human_age = 16ln (dog_age) + 31.

Which translates to multiplying the natural logarithm of your dog`s age in years by 16 and then adding 31. The researchers said that "seven weeks in dogs were found to correspond to nine months in humans."

While "the average life expectancy of the two species was also the same: 12 years for Labradors and 70 for humans." Although, dogs reach sexual maturity faster, so the period between adolescence and middle age is different.

"A five-year-old Labrador is estimated to take about 56 human years," the scientists explain. But the dog`s methylation slows down as they age and that allows the stones to match.

Publication Date: 2019-11-19

Source: Fayerwayer.com: CELALBA YAMARTE