Older Dogs Can Be Made Young Again

By Super

Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 14:44

If your pet dog is getting older, tired and weaker, you need not worry, as a new technology can reverse the aging procedure.

Professor Lee Sweeney, from the University of Pennsylvania, has pioneered research into gene transfer technology, a field in which poorly functioning and abnormal genes are manipulated, switched off or replaced

We are now in the final stages of getting all the approvals to offer this through the veterinary hospital as a treatment to try to improve strength in pet dogs," the Telegraph quoted Sweeney, as saying.

"As the dogs get weak their owners get upset that they can't walk around any more. So we're hoping that within the next year we will begin the era of genetic enhancement in dogs," Sweeney added.

The therapy involves an injection to the liver of an inhibitor, which can switch off the gene that produces a protein, Myostatin, that inhibits muscle growth in animals and humans. The tests are positive so far in the laboratory but the regulatory authorities are cautious about the risk of humans coming in contact with the treated pet's waste. They are suggesting for the dogs to be held in quarantine after treatment.

If developed to a risk-free level, the therapy can be used on humans to treat various genetic disorders like muscular dystrophy and many others.