Being a dog person could be in your DNA, scientists say

[TruthTheOnlyDefense]

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Having a propensity for dogs could be in your genetic makeup, scientists have claimed.

The question of whether or not you're a cat or a dog person is one that causes many a heated debate among devoted pet owners.

While some may think a preference for a canine companion could be attributed to the animals you were surrounded by throughout your childhood, a new study has argued it may actually be a case of nature over nurture.

A team of Swedish and British scientists conducted an investigation to assess the "heritability of dog ownership".

The researchers compared the genetic makeup of 35,035 pairs of twins by using data from the Swedish Twin Registry for the study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

While identical twins share their entire genome, non-identical twins only share approximately half their genome.

Therefore, by analysing the genetic makeup of twins, scientists can compare the impact of environment versus genetics.

According to the study, if one half of identical twins owns a dog, both are more likely to be dog owners, a finding the scientists attribute to their shared genome.

Meanwhile, when it comes to non-identical twins, they are much less likely to both own dogs.

Another factor which could determine whether or not twins are likely to both own a dog is living in a shared environment, a factor which the researchers only assessed in early adulthood.

"We found that additive genetic factors largely contributed to dog ownership, with heritability estimated at 57 per cent for females and 51 per cent for males," the researchers stated.

Tove Fall, lead author of the study and professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University, said the team were "surprised to see that a person's genetic makeup appears to be a significant influence in whether they own a dog".

"As such, these findings have major implications in several different fields related to understanding dog-human interaction throughout history and modern times," the professor stated.

Carri Westgarth, lecturer in human-animal interaction at the University of Liverpool and co-author of the study, added that the study's findings are significant as they "suggest that supposed health benefits of owning a dog reported in some studies may be partly explained by different genetics of the people studied".

Patrick Magnusson, senior author of the study and associate professor of epidemiology at Karolinska Insitutet, explained that the study could not identify exactly which genes may determine whether a person is likely to own a dog.

However, the study does "at least demonstrate for the first time that genetics and environment play about equal roles in determining dog ownership", Magnusson said.

"The next obvious step is to try to identify which genetic variants affect this choice and how they relate to personality traits and other factors such as allergy," the professor added.

According to a study published in December by Exeter and Canterbury University, dogs may not be as intelligent as people think.

This claim prompted fury across Twitter, with many users defending the intelligence of their canine companions.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle...dna-scientists-say/ar-AABIz95?ocid=spartandhp

 

[Jaanbaz]

I've grown to like dogs but I'm a cat person, growing up in Karachi we always took in stray kittens, once they were fully grown they would bring us dead pigeons or rats as gratitude.

 

[Nefarious]

+1 Cats, have a cat at the moment.

And I really don't like dogs.

 

[Georg]

Dog person... my two old boys...11 years and 10years old