Understanding your genetic test results is crucial for making informed breeding and health decisions for your dog, breeding pair, or puppies. In Part 1 of this blog, we discussed how you can interpret and use your genetic test results when it comes to breeding. It is also important to have a basic understanding of what exactly we are testing for and how the same genetic test results can be reported differently by different companies.
“Genetic testing” can have several different meanings depending on what the test is designed to detect. In the case of dog genetic testing for health and coat type, we are detecting DNA mutations which are changes made to a gene that change the way the gene works. It is very common for customers to contact us with the misconception that we are testing for the gene itself when in reality, we are looking for a mutation or change in the gene. These changes can either completely disrupt the gene which often leads to disease or it can change the function of the gene so that it produces a slightly different version such as a change in coat color from black to brown. Either way, it is important to know that we are testing for mutations in a gene and not the gene itself.
The result of a genetic test typically has three potential results which can be labeled differently by different companies. Each dog inherits two copies of each gene with one copy from each parent. All genetic tests look to see if a dog carries two, one, or no copies of a mutation in its two gene copies. A dog with no copies of the mutation can be referred to as “Clear”, “Unaffected”, or “Normal” which means the dog does not have a copy of the mutation that leads to either disease or a change in coat type. A dog with one copy of the mutation and one copy of the normal gene is often referred to as a “Carrier” and can either be affected or unaffected based on whether the mutation is dominant or recessive. Finally, a dog that carries two copies of the mutation and has no normal copy of the gene will typically be labeled as “Affected” or “At Risk”.
Although we are all testing for the same mutations, there are several ways that different companies may report the results. Some companies have a unique code for each test that is usually composed of uppercase and lowercase letters to represent normal and mutant gene copies. For example, the test for B-Locus/Brown/Chocolate/Liver can be reported as BB, Bb, or bb. Some companies report test results using multiple letters for the same test such as K Locus/Dominant Black that are reported with a combination of letters like KB and ky. When we first started GenSol, we wanted to make it as simple as possible to read and understand your results regardless of the test type so our results for “Clear”, “Carrier”, and “Affected” are reported as “A”, “B”, or “C” for all of our tests.
Regardless of how your results are reported, it is of the utmost importance to understand the meaning behind your results so that you can make important breeding and healthcare decisions. We are always available at GenSol to assist you with interpreting your results whether you use our testing services or another company. This way we can work together to improve dog health through informed breeding and health decisions.