Hungry lab? It's in the genes
By Tom Spears
First posted: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 12:05 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 04:40 PM EDT
f your vet keeps giving you dirty looks because your Labrador is fat, don’t blame yourself: British scientists have found that many Labs have a gene mutation that makes them extra-hungry.
Early results show that about one-quarter of Labs have the mutation (regardless of fur colour).
Lab owners know their dogs are constantly begging for food, and this intrigued Eleanor Raffan, a veterinary surgeon and geneticist at the University of Cambridge. She has previously studied human obesity.
Raffan examined genes from some obese Labs and others that were a healthy weight, and found the obese ones had a scrambled version of a gene that should make hunger go away after a meal.
Raffan speculates this is one reason why Labs are easy to train as service dogs: They will do anything for food — and this includes the Labs without the obesity-related gene.
Hungry lab? It's in the genes | World | News | Toronto Sun
By Tom Spears
First posted: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 12:05 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 04:40 PM EDT
f your vet keeps giving you dirty looks because your Labrador is fat, don’t blame yourself: British scientists have found that many Labs have a gene mutation that makes them extra-hungry.
Early results show that about one-quarter of Labs have the mutation (regardless of fur colour).
Lab owners know their dogs are constantly begging for food, and this intrigued Eleanor Raffan, a veterinary surgeon and geneticist at the University of Cambridge. She has previously studied human obesity.
Raffan examined genes from some obese Labs and others that were a healthy weight, and found the obese ones had a scrambled version of a gene that should make hunger go away after a meal.
Raffan speculates this is one reason why Labs are easy to train as service dogs: They will do anything for food — and this includes the Labs without the obesity-related gene.
Hungry lab? It's in the genes | World | News | Toronto Sun