Gray wolves in Rhodes, France. The new analysis examined a mix
of DNA from… (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen,…) Long ago, some brazen
wolves started hanging around human settlements, jump-starting
events that ultimately led to today's domesticated dogs. Now
geneticists say they have identified one of the key changes that
turned wolves into the tame, tail-wagging creatures well-suited
to living by our sides — the ability to digest carbohydrates
with ease. The report, published online Wednesday by the journal
Nature, found signs that dogs can break down starch into sugar,
and then transport those sugars from the gut into the
bloodstream, more efficiently than can wolves. Comparing dog and
wolf DNA, the authors pinpointed several changes in starch and
sugar-processing genes that would have made early dogs better
able to digest the scraps they scavenged from dumps in early
farming villages, helping them to thrive as they gave up the
independent life of the pack to entwine their lives with ours.
"That food was obviously