Do not use dog DNA tests to make life-and-death decisions for your pet, experts warn

The claims of DNA testing manufacturers in dogs may seem anything but final: a simple blow of Comb can tell you not only about the breeds that make up your dog, but also offer a healthier life. Pay $ 65 (US $) ($ 85 Canadian), and you can make smarter, science-based decisions about veterinary care. You can be a more responsible dog owner.

But three canine genetics experts have now launched cold water on these claims, claiming that the entire canine genetics test marketed by consumers is a "wild savage" of low science, uncommitted results and

Their opinion piece, published last week in the journal Nature, states that some dog owners make decisions about euthanasia and Serious veterinary treatments based on DNA. tests that come with minimal warnings, vague details about the tests and no government control. The document calls for standards and guidelines that, according to the authors, could become law for solving problems – all the more so as the field, with hundreds of thousands of dogs already tested each year, continues to grow.

"I do not understand why nobody talks about it," said co-author Lisa Moses, a veterinarian and researcher at Harvard Medical School. "We are really worried that there is this large-scale misinformation about what the power of the tests really is and how they are used for life and death issues."

The commentary sparked a debate in the veterinary world. Several industry experts said they agree with the general premise that there is a problem marketing dogs DNA tests, but they defended what they called decades of science that led to the tests today. Diane Brown, CEO of the AKC Canine Health Foundation, an independent subsidiary of the American Kennel Club, said her group has contributed about $ 20 million since 1995 to research on the specific genetic mutations that cause diseases in certain breeds of dogs. But what's happening now, with the kind of doggie tote tests available to all dog owners, is a totally different proposition, she said.

"When these new marketing companies arrive, they throw it in these multiplex tests, and we're talking about apples and oranges," says Brown. "The premise I drew from this commentary was the nature is that there is an unregulated consumer marketing test available that is incredibly misleading, and I totally agree. These multiplexes, going to spend $ 65 to have a list of diseases that are returned to you, is virtually insignificant. "

A dog owner who buys such a test takes the cheek of his pet and sends the sample to the test company.In a few weeks, they receive a report that can detail the pedigree of the breed of the animal and a risk badessment of genetic disease.The two main DNA tests for consumers are Embark and the Wisdom Panel, owned by Mars, which has been used to test more than one million of dogs.

A problem with the DNA tests of dogs on the mbad market, say some experts, is that they often identify genetic mutations that have been linked to the disease only in some breeds.For example, if research has shown that a mutation is badociated with cancer in golden retrievers, it does not necessarily mean that the same mutation will cause cancer in a Boston terrier – but the mutation appears still in the The owner could then rush to a veterinarian who, given the recent nature of science, may not quite understand what the report actually means.

Elinor Karlsson, co-author of the journal Nature and director of The Genomics of Vertebrates at the Broad Institute of the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, said the central problem is how consumer test results are interpreted. The mere fact of having a genetic mutation, she says, does not mean that the disease will follow or that a veterinary intervention is needed.

"Finding something and then using it clinically are two different things," Karlsson said. "If you take 1000 dogs and look at them, who carry this mutation, what are the chances that they will get sick? What does the information mean about whether your dog is going to catch the disease? It's what we miss right now. "

What is possible, experts say, is to identify certain genetic mutations in certain breeds and to make sure that these dogs are not bred with other mutations, thus reducing hereditary disease in puppies. For dog breeders, they say, this type of genetic testing is the key.

But for consumers who are looking at mutations reports, say, a mutt, making sense of the results is a darker matter – a science in itself that starts only taught in veterinary schools, which started to form canine genetics counselors.

"Some of these companies do this counseling, but others just want to sell these tests," said Jerold Bell, board member of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. "It is an industry that is in its infancy and marketing has preceded the educational process."

Kari Ekenstedt, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Genetics at the College of Veterinary Medicine of the United States. Purdue University explains, "If your dog had an eye condition that a general vet was not comfortable treating, they are referring to a veterinary ophthalmologist (certified by the board). We desperately need something like that for veterinary genetics. Until this happens, experts in veterinary genetics will be much harder to find, and so bad advice and inappropriate testing will be rampant. "

Angela Hughes, Head of Veterinary Genetics Research at the March Wisdom Panel It is different to know what, if any, to do about it – and that its society makes this distinction clear to consumers.

"This panel has a lot of advantages, but it must be used with caution," says Hughes. "We can be aware of a mutation at Dobermans, and then we see it in Dachshunds, then we have to Conduct clinical validation studies to monitor and study this. What does the mutation in dachshunds do? So we report it to dachshund owners and we very clearly indicate what is a known problem in a breed and what is a potential concern that we are studying with additional studies. "

Embark representatives also stated that" As you get more genetic information, there is more opportunity to misinterpret, "said Adam Boyko, a canine geneticist at the University of Michigan. Cornell University who is chief scientific director of Embark. "The dog breeders, when they started testing and there were one and two mutations, it was not that bad. But when you test 50 or 60 mutations, you must understand that it is not always deleterious. "

Even so, he said, DNA tests like Embark can help consumers make veterinary decisions – to exclude certain diagnoses – never 100 percent, there may still be a new mutation that causes illness – but this can certainly reduce the need for additional veterinary testing. "

Moses, co-author of Nature According to the newspaper, consumers should think of tests as interesting and fun, but not use them to make veterinary decisions.

"Put pressure on companies that are in the regulatory bodies of veterinary medicine," she says. "As consumers, you do not get much for your money here. "