Old dogs may be able to teach us new tricks.
The Dog Aging Project aims to understand more about the length and strength of canine lifespans.
The initiative—jointly operated by the University of Washington School of Medicine and Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences—will create a nationwide community of dogs, owners, vets, researchers, and volunteers.
Launched this week at the annual Gerontological Society of America meeting in Austin, Texas, the Dog Aging Project is in full swing.
Pet owners can go online to nominate their pup as a candidate: You will need to provide comprehensive health and lifestyle information about the animal, as well as share its veterinary medical records.
Dogs of all ages, sizes, sexes, and sterilizations living in all types of locations are invited to sign up. Healthy hounds and those with chronic illness will be considered.
“All owners who complete the nomination process will become Dog Aging Project citizen scientists and their dogs will become members of the ‘pack,'” according to co-director Daniel Promislow. “Their information will allow us to begin carrying out important research on aging in dogs.”
Pooches will be followed throughout their lifetime—long or short—as scientists gather information about the 10,000 enrolled animals in an open-data platform.
There are four key goals of the Dog Aging Project:
- Develop tests to measure dogs’ changes in physical function as they grow older
- Integrate genome sequencing data with health measurements and behavioral traits
- Look for molecular predictors of disease, decline, or longevity
- Assess the effects of the drug rapamycin on cognition, heart function, healthspan, and lifespan
The entire project is expected to take at least 10 years.
“Aging is the major cause of the most common diseases, like cancer and heart problems,” according to researcher Matt Kaeberlein, a professor of pathology at the UW School of Medicine. “Dogs age more rapidly than people do and get many of our same diseases of aging, including cognitive decline.
“This project will contribute broadly to knowledge about aging in dogs and in people,” he added.
The multi-institutional team’s goal is not merely to increase lifespan, but extend healthspan: the period spent free from disease.
“It is important to me that our work benefits dogs directly,” vet Kate Creevy, associate professor at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, said in a statement. “But our work with dogs has the added value of shedding light on the human aging experience as well.”
After all, improved quality of life in advanced age is a goal most people have for themselves, as well as their pets.
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