Can Man's Best Friend Help Us Understand Human Evolution and Disease?

Dog's have long been known as man's best friend. However, just how long have these loyal companions been companions of our ancestors? In the article on Nature, it is believed that the oldest link between the domesticated dog and the grey wolf is the Chinese indigenous dog. Based on the genome sequence of four grey wolves, three Chinese dogs, and three modern breeds, the study demonstrated Chinese indigenous dogs being the closest link to both wolves and dogs. The spilt is believed to have happened around ~32,000 years ago. The paper touches on the estimated time elapsed since the divergence of the populations, and even touches on the genes identified to regulate certain traits. By recognising the parallelism evolution of grey wolves into the modern dog, it may be possible to better understand and analyse the genes in digestion and metabolism, neurological processes, and perhaps even cancer.