Shar-peis' New Wrinkle: Skin Gene Also Can Make Them Sick | Animals, Genetics & Disease | LiveScience
A variety of Shar-pei dogs, left to right, from most to least wrinkly.
CREDIT: PLoS Genetics/ Olsson, et al. 2011
A genetic mutation has been fingered as the likely cause of a fever disorder in Shar-Peis, the wrinkled dogs from China, which not only could improve treatments for the animals but could teach us about human fever disorders, such as familial Mediterranean fever syndrome.
"We are going to be able to look at these more closely and develop more efficient treatments now that we know what's happening in these dogs," said study researcher Linda Tintle of the Wurtsboro Veterinary Clinic in Wurtsboro, N.Y. "These are very, very special dogs, and this will help us let them live longer, healthier lives." [...]
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The study was published today (March 17) in the journal PLoS Genetics.
You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover.
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