Our research
See here for a list of publications from our lab!
With our new Pounce! webapp, you can watch adorable dog pups and contribute to science
The Karlsson Lab and The Colubri Lab have partnered to create Pounce!, a webapp that partners with community scientists to massively scale-up collection of behavior data. Sign up here to watch videos and provide feedback on when pups engage in behaviors such as grab bite. And don’t worry…there’s a tutorial! Future iterations of Pounce! will include videos of other species, empowering researchers and community scientists to work together towards previously inaccessible insights.
Our new, cost-effective canine exome
New! Our cost-effective custom canine exome is now available from Twist Bioscience. Find out more!
Comparative genomics: the Zoonomia project.
The Zoonomia Project is a very large-scale project to compare the DNA of over 200 different mammals. We’re at about 240 now, and it is the biggest genomic alignment ever done. While the primary goal of the project to develop a deeper understanding of human health and disease, we also work closely with conservation scientists to figure out how genomics can support efforts to save endangered species. Learn more here.
Cancer in dogs and people
People and dogs share their homes, food and, sadly, many of the same cancers. We’re studying cancers that are rare in humans, but common in dogs, with the goal of developing better treatments for both species. We’re also developing blood biopsy technology, with the help of canine cancer patients, that could one day allow cancer to be detected using a simple blood test.
The genetics of behavior in pet dogs
For thousands of years, humans have bred dogs to excel at behaviors like herding, tracking and retrieving. Our work on obsessive compulsive disorder in dogs and in humans demonstrated that dogs are an excellent model for human psychiatric diseases. We are now expanding this research to all dogs, and you can sign up your dog today. Using new high, throughput genomic technologies, we’re trying to find neurological pathways that underlie behaviors favored by our ancient ancestors, and understand how these genetic changes led to changes in behavior.
Evolution of social behavior in dogs and wolves.
Dogs are not wolves. They’re really, really not. But why not? Dogs and wolves are the same species, but they’ve evolved to live in completely different ecological niches. By studying dogs, wolves, and animals that are a bit of each, we’re search for the genes underlying the remarkable changes in social behavior that we see in domesticated dog.
The Working Dog Project.
Working Dogs are an incredibly important part of our world, but it’s difficult and costly to produce a successful dog. Genomic tools could help success rates. One day, we hope be able to use genetic tests to help predict which dogs are likely to be successful at a particular job — whether bred for the job or a rescue at a shelter — and which ones are born to be couch potatoes.