Speed Gene Makes Picking Racehorses a Safer Bet
By Jason Gale
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...=aLXkHCjM.Bg4#
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A speed gene in horses is enabling thoroughbred owners to sort would-be sprinters from plodders from just a teaspoonful of the galloper’s blood.
Scientists at University College Dublin matched the genetic code of 179 race winners with performance on the track to identify variants of the muscle mass-regulating myostatin gene that predict a horse’s optimum racing distance.
The research is the first known characterization of a gene contributing to a specific athletic trait in thoroughbreds, the authors said in the study, published Jan. 20 in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS ONE. Commercialization of the test may alter the course of a multibillion-dollar industry whose breeding practices have remained little changed for centuries, the researchers said.