For about 15,000 years, dogs have migrated in lockstep with humans around the globe. They have followed us from Asia into Europe, North America and back to Africa — all the while hunting, protecting and snuggling us.
Now it looks as though dog DNA has evolved in lockstep with our DNA.
Scientists in China have found evidence that dogs developed protection against malaria in the same way that people in West Africa have.
One tiny change in dogs' genes likely boosted their immune response to the malaria parasite, geneticists from Yunnan University reported Tuesday in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
The gene — called ADGRE1 — is also linked with malaria protection in people.
The findings add to growing evidence that dogs and people have undergone what is called convergent evolution: They've adapted to new environments by independently evolving similar traits.
"The classic example of convergent evolution is altitude adaptation in Tibetans — and their dogs," says geneticist Adam Boyko at Cornell University, who wasn't involved in the current study.
Tibetans have a special version of a gene that helps their blood cope with low levels of oxygen. The gene — called ESPA1 — turns on a whole bunch of other genes when oxygen levels drop.
"Lo and behold! Dogs in Tibet also have a mutation in ESPA1 that confers resistance to low oxygen levels," Boyko says.
That finding was published a few years ago by another team in China. Now this new study adds a few more genes to the doggy-human convergence.
Now it looks as though dog DNA has evolved in lockstep with our DNA.
Scientists in China have found evidence that dogs developed protection against malaria in the same way that people in West Africa have.
One tiny change in dogs' genes likely boosted their immune response to the malaria parasite, geneticists from Yunnan University reported Tuesday in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
The gene — called ADGRE1 — is also linked with malaria protection in people.
The findings add to growing evidence that dogs and people have undergone what is called convergent evolution: They've adapted to new environments by independently evolving similar traits.
"The classic example of convergent evolution is altitude adaptation in Tibetans — and their dogs," says geneticist Adam Boyko at Cornell University, who wasn't involved in the current study.
Tibetans have a special version of a gene that helps their blood cope with low levels of oxygen. The gene — called ESPA1 — turns on a whole bunch of other genes when oxygen levels drop.
"Lo and behold! Dogs in Tibet also have a mutation in ESPA1 that confers resistance to low oxygen levels," Boyko says.
That finding was published a few years ago by another team in China. Now this new study adds a few more genes to the doggy-human convergence.