Yeast researcher uses sabbatical to study dogs
By Kerry Mullln
Professor George Sprague h.is
spent mm It of Ins i areer i on
due ting research on yeast
Though the yeast organism is
an excellent medium for genet
ii experimentation, it do»»sn't
provide much companionship
for the researcher Sprague took
advantage of tns rei enl sahbati
uil to pursue researt I) on a more
friendly organism dogs
I wanted to do something
interesting and something dif
ferent from what i do lien'.'' said
Sprague, who said a project at
the University of (ailiforma in
Berkeley provided the perfei t
opportunity
The pro its t is i entered around
identifying what spur ifn genes,
if anv, control particular behav
iors in dogs Sprague previous
ly worked with tiie project s
organizer. Jasper Kinc, when
Rule n as working on his Him tor
ale in the late i<l7tis at the Uni
i erxin
According to a paper pub
lished In lime the idea that
genes control behavior is not a
new one. but until recently the
research tools to explore the
concept were not sufficiently
developed Sprague said it 4vas
Hine s ingenuity in pairing new
ly developed te< hnologv 4vith
knowledge of dogs that sparked
Ins interest m the projtM t
Different breeds of dogs have
markedly different behaviors.
Furthermore the behaviors are
present in every member of an
individual breed.
Sprague said this leads to "the
view that a large component of
that must have a genetic basis ”
Using recent advances in genet
it technology, the researchers
should Ihi able to lo< ate the s|h>
cific genes nr sets of genes that
control behavior.
PHolo by AftfHDrty Fo»r.#v
4 s a resu/f of generations of breeding. Meg. a Border Collie, will not break her concentration on a ball
held by her owner. University Professor George Sprague.
The research efforts are two
fold One part involves
researchers mapping the entire
set of amine genes The second
part requires the breeding of
dogs with different behaviors
and studying the behaviors and
genes of the offspring. Sprague
has been involved in both parts
of the research
While at Berkeley he conduct
ed mapping experiments. He
also volunteered his dog, Meg,
as part of the study.
Meg. who is a border collie,
has been bred with Kine’s pet
border collie to produce pure
bred offspring that serve as a
control to compare the mixed
breed dogs
Border collies ware chosen for
the project because they are
docile and they show a specific
set of pronounced herding
behaviors that start at a very
young age Also, as Sprague
points out. "there are people
who say border collies are the
most intelligent dogs.”
Newfoundlands are the other
breed involved in the study.
Like border collies, they are
docile, but their dominant
behaviors include swimming
and rescuing drowning victims.
The two breeds temperaments
and unique behaviors made
them ideal for the research
The original mating took place
Ix'tween Pine's border collie and
a Newfoundland Inst year, and
mx puppies were born. Each
puppy has been placed in a
home, where it will be raised
just like any other American
dog, with the exception of peri
odically having to perform for a
video camera and donate blood.
"The animals will have no
experiments done on them,"
Sprague said. "They will all be
people's pets."
When thB puppies are old
enough, they w'ill bo bred.
Sprague said it is from the third
generation of dogs that the
researchers expect to get the
most significant genetic infor
mation Despite their increasing
significance to the research,
these puppies will only be
required to do what the parents
did donate blood and play in
front of cameras.
While the puppies ploy, the
researchers will work. They will
be trying to identify and locate
s|ms ific genes that correspond to
the behaviors the puppies show
in their play.
Sprague said three or five
genes may be responsible for a
specific behavior. If that is the
case, the researchers will be able
to identify them. However, some
behaviors may he governed by
10 to 20 genes, in which case the
technology available today is
not sophisticated enough to
identify them all.
On the other hand, Sprague
said. "To our surprise, 1 expect
there will lie cases where it will
he one gene."
It will he* a few years he'ere
Sprague will know if his t \pec
tations are correct. A study on
dogs takes time. Sprague said.
"This is a very different world
than what I'm use to. Each gen
eration of dog takes a lot longer
than yeast." he said.
Since returning to Eugene.
Sprague's involvement in the
project has been limited. How
ever, he does entertain ideas of
returning to the project some
day.
Even if Sprague did secure
grants to bring some aspect of
the dog project to the University,
students should not expect to
see more dogs on campus.
"What I would look at next is
what the gene erodes for."
Sprague said. He said that
would require returning to
working on the molecular scale.
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