DOG AGE IN HUMAN YEARS

HOW TO DETERMINE A DOG LIFE IN HUMAN YEARS-

Dogs live shorter lives than humans, and so a four-year-old dog is at a far later stage of its life than a four-year-old child.

WAS THERE NOT A FORMULA ALREADY?

There exists a very simple and commonly followed thumb rule: multiply a dog's age by 7  and you supposedly get its equivalent age in human years: For example, a four-year-old dog is 28 in human years. The new research, based on epigenetics, has found the comparison between human years and dog years is not perfectly linear-which would have been reliable.

WHAT THEN IS THE NEW COMPARISON?

The study, led by researchers from the University of California at San Diego, found the relationship between a dog's age and a human's age follows the red curve in the graph. Suppose your dog is four years old. Find 4 on the horizontal axis, then discover your finger upwards until you reach the red curve. From that point, move left towards the vertical axis, which your finger will touch at 52 years. So, a four-year-old dog is equivalent in physiological age to a 52-year-old human.

WHAT IS THE BASIS OF THIS CALCULATION?

It is established on molecular changes in the human genome and dog genome over time. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego analyzed patterns over time in a biochemical process, called methylation, in the genome. The latest formula, the researchers said, provides a new epigenetic clock for determining the lifetime of a cell, tissue, or organism.

HOW WAS THE FORMULA DERIVED?

They analyzed patterns in blood samples from 105 Labrador retrievers. The acknowledged that using a single breed is a limitation since some dog breeds live longer than others. While calling for more research, they said the epigenetic clock is accurate for humans and mice, as well as Labrador retrievers, and predicted that it will apply to all dog breeds.