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Associated Press

Can old dogs teach us new tricks? Scientists are looking for 10,000 pets for the largest-ever study of ageing in canines. They hope to shed light on human longevity too.
The project will collect a pile of pooch data: vet records, DNA samples, gut microbes and information on food and walks. Five hundred dogs will test a pill that could slow the ageing process.
“What we learn will potentially be good for dogs and has great potential to translate to human health,” said project co-director Daniel Promislow of the University of Washington School of Medicine.
If scientists find a genetic marker for a type of cancer in dogs, for instance, that could be explored in humans.

Do you love #dogs? Do you want to maximize the time you have with your furry friends? Join us at a free, public lecture on Thursday, 11/14 at 7pm in #Austin, Texas. #aging #doghealthhttps://t.co/NKavqgVy0Z
— Dog Aging Project (@DogAgingProject) November 11, 2019

For the study, the dogs will live at home and follow their usual routine. All ages and sizes, purebreds and mutts are welcome.
Owners will complete periodic online surveys and take their dogs to the vet once a year, with the possibility of extra visits for certain tests. Their welfare will be monitored by a bioethicist and a panel of animal welfare advisers.
To nominate a pet, owners can visit the Dog Ageing Project’s website.
The five-year study was formally launched Thursday at a science meeting in Austin, Texas.
The millennial pet owners who get into debt paying vet bills
The National Institute on ageing is paying for the US$23 million project because dogs and humans share the same environment, get the same diseases and dogs’ shorter lifespans allow quicker research results, said deputy director, Dr Marie Bernard.
The data collected will be available to all scientists.
Leslie Lambert of Parkville, Maryland, enrolled her 11-year-old rescue dog, Oscar, in an early phase.
“I would selfishly like to have him around forever,” said the 33-year-old veterinarian. “Unfortunately, he ages much, much faster than I do.”

But she is torn by the prospect of an anti-ageing pill because so many abandoned dogs go without care.
“Just because we can, should we?”
Compared to farm dogs in the past, today’s pampered pups live longer and get more geriatric diseases, said veterinarian Dr Kate Creevy of Texas A&M University, the project’s chief scientific officer. Yet no standard measures exist for frailty or prognosis in sick, aged dogs, Creevy said. The project will develop those tools.
One dog year is roughly equal to seven human years, Creevy said, but that varies by breed. Large dogs have shorter lifespans than smaller dogs. A Great Dane’s lifespan is about half that of a toy poodle’s.
How a dog can help you live a longer, happier, healthier life
That makes large dogs better test subjects for the pill. Dogs weighing at least 18kg (40 pounds) will be eligible for an experiment with rapamycin, now taken by humans to prevent rejection of transplanted kidneys. The drug has extended lifespan in mice.
A small safety study in dogs found no dangerous side effects, said project co-director Matt Kaeberlein of the University of Washington.
Human devotion to dogs drives projects like this, the scientists said. Owners will gladly fill out surveys, send records and submit a pup’s poop for analysis if they think it will help all dogs live longer, even if it will not help their pet.

“People love dogs,” said Promislow, who normally studies ageing in fruit flies.
“No one has ever come up to me and said, ‘Oh my goodness, I just love fruit flies.’”
Promislow’s mixed breed, 14-year-old Frisbee, will not participate to prevent a conflict of interest.
“It’s too bad because she’s a terrific example of a really healthy ager,” he said.


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Pets

Scientists to test anti-ageing pill on dogs in largest-ever study of canine longevity

University of Washington School of Medicine researcher Daniel Promislow, the principal investigator of the Dog ageing Project grant, rubs the head of his elderly dog Frisbee at their home in Seattle on Monday. Photo: AP

Don Smith reacts as Cap'n Crunch the Great Dane yawns during the Meet the Breeds event ahead of the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York, U.S., February 9, 2019. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

This undated photo provided by Leslie Lambert in November 2019 shows her 11-year-old rescue dog, Oscar. Lambert of Parkville, Md., enrolled him in an early phase of the Dog Aging Project. "I would selfishly like to have him around forever," said the 33-year-old veterinarian. "Unfortunately, he ages much, much faster than I do." (Leslie Lambert via AP)

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Cancer is Hong Kong’s No 1 killer, accounting for more than 30 per cent of all deaths.

Demonstration of the Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility in United Christian Hospital, Kwun Tong. 07MAY10

Dr Wong Kam-hung, Director of Hong Kong Cancer Registry, photographed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. 13NOV18 SCMP / Edmond So

Doctor examining chest x-ray film of patient at hospital. Photo: Shutterstock

Hero dog Conan to get White House welcome after Baghdadi raid

An undated image of Conan, the military dog who sustained minor injuries during the Baghdadi raid. Photo: US Department of Defence via AFP

Newly discovered protein keeps skin looking youthful, but could it be an anti-ageing boost for other organs too?

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Emi Nishimura.Photo: Handout[FEATURES 2019]

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Project seeks to collect data on DNA, gut microbes, food and walks from 10,000 pets, while pill will be tested on 500 of them
Drug has extended lifespan in mice, and safety study found no dangerous side effects for dogs



Drug has extended lifespan in mice, and safety study found no dangerous side effects for dogs.
