Comparing the Human and Canine Genomes

Abstract

The dog is a unique species due to its phenotypic variability, exceptional among mammals. From the point of view of comparative biomedicine it needs to be emphasized that in numerous breeds specific hereditary diseases occur with high prevalence and many of them have molecular and clinical counterparts in humans. Thus, the dog is a very useful model to study human hereditary diseases and their therapy, including gene therapy. Knowledge on the human and dog genomes is very advanced. Both genomes were sequenced, their high‐density marker genome maps are available and evolutionary conserved segments (CSs) were identified by comparative chromosome painting, marker genome mapping and sequencing.