Re: Man's best friend shares most genes with humans

Our dog Joshua, a sweet, gentle mixed-breed with a lot of border collie in
him, retired as Campus Pet at Berea College. I use to take him to chapel
services. At one student-led service he walked up to an anxious student
asking for prayers and lay his head against her to comfort her. Other
students reported that he would sit with them on the quad when they were
experiencing troubled moments, and they found that a great comfort. A
colleague once remarked that he was the fifth member of Campus Ministry, and
another that Joshua did more for the mental health of the campus than anyone
else. So maybe he has genes in common with Michael and others of you who
are pastors. Maybe he took his name ("YHWH is my salvation") seriously.

It warms my heart to know that Joshua and I share many of the same genes.

Bob Schneider

PS: At his retirement party, Joshua was given an honorary degree, signed by
the dean and the president of the College: D. Litt.--Dogter of Litters.
Since he had been neutered when I got him at the Humane Society, it was
truly an honorary and not an earned degree.

PPS: Joshua was a "death-row doggie," would have been put to sleep if no one
claimed him. I didn't know that until after I picked him out; and since I
was the unwitting instrument and not the conscious agent, I named him
Joshua. The Lord had better things for him.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Roberts" <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk>
To: "Pim van Meurs" <pimvanmeurs@yahoo.com>
Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 2:37 AM
Subject: Re: Man's best friend shares most genes with humans

> Pim
>
> If you have genes in common with dogs you may be dog-like. That is you
> might be friendly affectionate loyal etc. Maybe that is what Janice is
> afraid of!
>
> Our previous dog often looked at us with the same expression as Princess
> Diana, so we always said there was a genetic similarity and relationship!
>
> Why get worried if we share behaviour or genes with animals? We do and
> that is the end of it. All it does is to prove Darwin right, but I have
> known that for years!
>
> Michael
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pim van Meurs" <pimvanmeurs@yahoo.com>
> Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 6:17 PM
> Subject: Re: Man's best friend shares most genes with humans
>
>
>> Although I may run the risk of falling for another one of Janice's
>> practical jokes, I'd like to comment on these poorly argued cases.
>>
>> For instance "*Chimp genome sequence very different from man " *Rather
>> than the two genomes being 98.5% similar, the data suggest 95--96%
>> similar. That's hardly 'very different from man'.
>>
>> I found most of the Freerepublic 'articles' addressing evolution to be
>> suffering from serious lack of scientific relevance.
>>
>> Now the Dog genome
>>
>> The dog research also helps reveal the evolutionary pedigree of human
>> genes.
>>
>> Humans and hounds branched off about 95 million years ago, yet nearly all
>> of the estimated 19,300 dog genes correspond to similar genes in humans.
>> But dog cells break their DNA into 78 chromosomes, compared with 46 in
>> human cells.
>>
>> As scientists compare the gene maps of the two species, they're beginning
>> to wonder if humans really have 23,000 or more genes, as once thought, or
>> if some genes really are just "junk DNA" that don't actually have any
>> function.
>>
>> Moreover, in comparing human, dog and mouse gene maps, researchers found
>> that about 5 percent of the genes in all three species have gone
>> virtually unchanged over the past 100 million years, and that preserved
>> DNA is clustered in genes that regulate proteins involved in development.
>>
>> More at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/guide/dog/
>>
>>
>> So perhaps I should have gone with my first hunch, namely that this is
>> just another practical joke?
>>
>>
>> Janice Matchett wrote:
>>
>>> Item of interest. ~ Janice :)
>>>
>>> *Man's best friend shares most genes with humans
>>> *The San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Carl T. Hall
>>>
>>> *Click to see picture: *
>>> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536362/posts?page=20#20
>>>
>>> Also see:
>>>
>>> *Chimp genome sequence very different from man
>>> * http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/1478385/posts
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Received on Fri Dec 9 08:17:47 2005