FB 50

FB 50. I had hoped that in FB 50 I would be able to report some results from Professor Amos’ search for the location of the JKD gene. The work has only just started but there is some other news that I thought I should put out now. Lynn Kincla and I have been very busy collecting pedigree of new cases for the boxerjkd website but it has been quite difficult gathering all the evidence needed especially with foreign cases. However, Lynn now tells me that there are now 23 new pedigrees up on the website: 8 UK, 5 Norwegian, 5 French, 2 German, 1 Danish, 1 Slovenian and 1 Israeli, and there are more in the pipeline. They make interesting reading as the same picture seen in UK dogs is emerging, with key animals that have produced JKD repeatedly appearing in other pedigrees. The inherited nature of the disease is clear.
I also learn that Breed Council has reported in the dog press the result of the AHT search for the JKD gene which they funded at some considerable cost. Not surprisingly in view of the earlier failures by other major research groups in much larger studies, no indication of the gene was found. What can one say? I only hope the very different scientific methodology used by Professor Amos will yield positive results. I certainly expect something from the ARVC screen that has been piggy-backed onto the main JKD study and I hope this will also be true for the more complicated JKD. I’m told that the first phase of this study might be completed before Christmas