OFA Registrations Resume - August 24, 2006

The OFA has resumed registration of OptiGen prcd-PRA results for all eligible breeds, according to an August 23rd letter to OptiGen from Eddie Dziuk, OFA’s Chief Operating Officer.  OptiGen has added back the OFA registration “sign off” statement at the bottom of all of its test reports. Testers will be able to submit their dog’s result to the OFA registry if they wish to do so by mailing a signed copy of the OptiGen report and the required fee directly to the OFA (NOT to Optigen).

OptiGen recently supplied OFA with copies of two peer-reviewed publications that describe the scientific studies on the prcd gene and mutation. Both are published in the research journal “Genomics.”

A summary of this research and its impact on canine genetic testing is being prepared by OptiGen and will be posted on this site soon. The research has been extensive, now covering PRA in 18 different purebreds/breed varieties. 

The first report, published July 18, 2006, is titled “Linkage disequilibrium mapping in domestic dog breeds narrows the progressive rod-cone degeneration interval and identifies ancestral disease-transmitting chromosome” and is authored by O. Goldstein, B. Zangerl, S. Pearce-Kelling, D.J. Sidjanin, J.W. Kijas, J. Felix, G.M. Acland and G.D. Aguirre.

The second report, published August 26, 2006, is titled “Identical mutation in a novel retinal gene causes progressive rod-cone degeneration in dogs and retinitis pigmentosa in humans” and is authored by B. Zangerl, O. Goldstein, A. Philp, S. Lindauer, S. Pearce-Kelling, R. Mullins, A. Graphodatsky, D. Ripoll, J. Felix, E. Stone, G. Acland and G. Aguirre.