Whether You Love Dogs Is Literally In Your DNA
A new study out of Uppsala University has found that one of the big reasons that dog owners own dogs may literally be found in their blood. Researchers in the United Kingdom and Sweden studied over 35,000 pairs of twins and discovered that people’s propensity to care for canines has a lot more to do with DNA and genetics than we previously thought. “We were surprised to see that a person’s genetic make-up appears to be a significant influence in whether they own a dog,” said Tove Fall, lead author of the study and a professor at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University. “These findings have major implications in several different fields related to understanding dog-human interaction throughout history and in modern times. Although dogs and other pets are common household members across the globe, little is known how they impact our daily life and health. Perhaps some people have a higher innate propensity to care for a pet than others.” The researchers used d...