Your Dog DNA Questions Answered: Part III
Good Morning America correspondent Dr. Marty Becker and geneticist Dr. Neale Fretwell conducted satellite interviews on May 6th on the Wisdom Panel Test, the most comprehensive doggie DNA test available today.
With Wisdom Panel MX, mixed-breed dogs will receive the most reliable DNA breed test available.
Today is the final segment with Dr. Becker and Dr. Fretwell as they answer reader questions about dog DNA testing.
If you can’t see the video in your RSS feed, then click here.
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Don’t get me wrong…I appreciate the “attempt” to answer my question. But as (presumably) the ‘Marjorie’ being referred to in the video, I have to say, that wasn’t the essence of my question, and no, my question wasn’t answered.
What I did not ask was, ‘What is the benefit of knowing which breeds are present in a mixed breed dog?’ The answer about health concerns and whatnot, relevant to the presumed parent breeds, is certainly valid. But mixed breed dogs aren’t typically a mix of two purebred parents, and that doesn’t even begin to address the accuracy issue.
I will search for the other two parts, to see if this accuracy question has been addressed, other than the mere statement the test is 90% accurate. (I.E. How was the accuracy tested? Did they do double-blind tests with both purebred and known-mixed-breed dogs? How many dogs were part of the test group?)
My question was more about the “markers” and how, in humans, they more accurate indicate a region of origin, rather than race. Sure, some regions are populated by people who appear to be a specific race, or at least have common physical features. (Common physical features are the hallmark of dog ‘breeds’, as well.) However, it is not always the case that the mere presence of these ‘markers’ coincides with any specific physical characteristic. (Meaning, two people can share similar DNA markers, and one could be a fair-skinned French woman, while the other might be a dark-skinned African man.)
In short, are these canine “markers” remarkably different than the markers used in the genographic project? And, if not, if they’re the similar kind, why it there the presumption of breed? After all, we know that in humans, the appearance of race can’t be predicted very accurately with this method. Doesn’t this explain why so many of these kinds of breed identity tests fail…so spectacularly, sometimes? Aren’t they mostly geared towards people who don’t actually know their dogs’ breed(s), and thus would believe anything told to them under the guise of a DNA test?
I swear I could tell people my purebred Great Dane is a Boxer/Greyhound mix, a Mastiff/’pit bull’ mix, or any number of other combinations, and have it believed by gullible people. I don’t remember if I included it in my original question, but my female BRINDLE(!) Great Dane has, indeed, been “confused” for the following breeds, over the years: Mastiff, Greyhound, Boxer, Rhodeisan Ridgeback, Doberman Pinscher, Catahoula Leopard Dog, ‘pit bull’, Irish Wolfhound, and my two personal favourites…Afghan Hound and Dalmatian!
My question did, however, address the accuracy issue. So far, I’ve seen a number of failed DNA test results, albeit admittedly not from this company. I can’t find my full question, but I asked that other than stating THIS test is the most accurate (which any company representative would do, naturally), if it can’t be proved to really, really accurate (I.E. no incidents of American Pit Bull Terriers being labelled Border Collie, etc.), then what use is it? If you can’t ‘guarantee’ that the little dog in the video is a mix of two purebred dogs, a Papillon and a Maltese in this case, then you’ve got people looking for collapsing trachea and luxating patella, when they should be focused on some other condtion of a breed not listed, or just generally looking for things that aren’t there, rather than doing the kind of comprehensive and responsible exams EVERY dog should receive.
I actually won this DNA test here off of a contest. I took the test to my vets office and they drew the blood from my Gibbs, and I sent it in. I sent the test into MARS the first week of January, according to their website you can check in from time to time to see the progression of your test. So I did, nothing there after a month so I contacted them. I was told that Gibbs sample had been “misplaced” and had been found and was being tested. Two more months pass by and still nothing listed on the website, so I contact them again, and recieve a long drawn out email about how Gibbs is so unique that they cant match his DNA markers up close to any specific breed. They listed about 40 breeds that made up Gibbs. The results and letter that was sent to my by the Dr that did the test said that Gibbs would be about 35lbs full grown, yeah ok, right now Gibbs is 8 months old and 50 plus lbs. I have contacted them back and told them that I didnt agree with the results at all and they retested and came up with the same thing. I’m really just glad that my hard earned money wasnt wasted for this and feel really bad for the person that paid for these tests as prizes for the contest here on dogster.
Hi Marjorie,
This is Dr. Neale Fretwell, chief geneticist for Mars Veterinary. Wisdom Panel MX’s test and accuracy are both peer-reviewed by our external panel of experts, and have been validated using a panel of first generation crosses of known heritage. This validation panel features a wide variety of mixes of different breeds and the data has been published in detail at the ACVIM meeting in 2008, and will also be presented at WSAVA in July of this year. We’d be very happy to address any additional questions about the benefits of knowing the breeds in a mix, accuracy and the type of DNA markers used in the Wisdom Panel. A good amount of this information is available on our Web site or you can contact us directly at http://wisdompanel.com/contact/default.aspx for more detailed information.
Best wishes,
Neale