UK Gluck Publishes Phase One of Genetic Diversity Study

The first phase of a research study into the genetic diversity in Thoroughbreds is in the books, with researchers from the University of Kentucky's Gluck Center concluding from the phase one portion that diversity among Thoroughbreds “falls within the range for other breeds of horses” despite centuries of human intervention, according to the Gluck Center.

The study, by the Gluck Center's Ernie Bailey, PhD and Ted Kalbfleisch, PhD,, and Jessica Petersen, PhD, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is based on sequencing the entire genome of Thoroughbred horses, and is published in the Equine Science Review of the University of Kentucky.

According to Dr. Bailey, the completion of their first phase of research in 2021 documents that the diversity among Thoroughbred horses is consistent with that found for other domestic animals and that it falls within the range for other breeds of horses.

In a press release Thursday, the team at Gluck called the study “the most comprehensive analysis of the genetics of the U.S. Thoroughbred to date. Previous studies of Thoroughbred diversity were based on sampling small subsets of the genome,” the release says.

“The goals of the study are to create a database that catalogs the variation across the genome of today's Thoroughbred horses and to generate anonymous (by horse) data that will create a foundation of knowledge for use in monitoring changes in genetic diversity over time,” they write.

During the first phase of the study, 1,000 Thoroughbred samples were collected from horses in Kentucky, California, Florida and New York. Pedigrees of the horses were examined and 120 were selected for whole-genome sequencing to capture as much of the genetic variation of the population as possible. As a result of sequencing these horses, the study aims to create a catalog of 15 million DNA variants among U.S. Thoroughbreds which can be used to monitor future changes in the Thoroughbred population as well as to construct computer models to assess how changes in breeding practices may affect the genetic structure of the population.

The second phase of research, now set to get underway, will be a sequencing project that aims to help protect the breed from deleterious recessive genes. The appearance of variants will be identified, and programs will be used to predict whether those variants might have a potentially negative effect on a gene. Additionally, the team is interested in using part of a survey of the whole breed to get at overall frequencies of genes.

“We can whole genome sequence every animal that is suspected of suffering from a deleterious recessive condition and look for possible causes; if none are proven we can archive the DNA in a database for comparison with future horses that appear with similar disease phenotypes,” Bailey said. “If we wait until a recessive deleterious disease occurs in 1% of the population, then 18% of all Thoroughbreds will already be carriers. This approach allows us to detect such genes before they become so prevalent.”

“Importantly,” the press release concludes, “these data will be publicly available so researchers at other institutions can perform studies of specific traits or genes. The genetic data, and the approach used in generating them, also represent a new tool available for breeders to use in maximizing the genetic potential of each foal and in ensuring the Thoroughbred's status as an elite population of equine athletes.”

Those interested in learning more about the project are invited to contact Dr. Bailey at ebailey@uky.edu. Those interested in supporting this project through financial contributions may contact Danielle Jostes at danielle.jostes@uky.edu.

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How Horses Helped With the Creation Of A COVID-19 Vaccine

People across the United States and Canada began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine this week, less than a year after the novel coronavirus that lead to a worldwide pandemic was first identified. The equine industry played a small but relevant role in this amazing scientific feat.

West Nile Virus first emerged in the United States 1999; in 2005, Fort Dodge Animal Health created a vaccine to protect horses from the mosquito-borne disease. This vaccine was the world's first DNA vaccine approved for human or animal use—and the technology used to make it became key to creating the COVID-19 vaccine.

Conventional vaccines used a killed or inactive form of a virus that teaches the body how to mount an immune response to it. DNA vaccines use small pieces of genetic material from a virus; the material itself is injected into the recipient and their cells transcribe the DNA into messenger RNA, which creates distinct proteins to jumpstart the body's immune response. This immune response will defend against the entire virus. Gene-based vaccines are faster to develop and manufacture than traditional vaccines.

Manufactured by Pfizer, the new COVID-19 vaccine is the next generation of genetic vaccines; it's a novel mRNA vaccine that directly translates into proteins once the cell incorporates it. The equine West Nile DNA vaccine was a beginning step for the creation of this vaccine, proving that nucleic acid-based vaccines were safe and effective.

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

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Britain’s Animal Health Trust To Close; Equine Research Affected

Britain's Animal Health Trust (AHT) is set to shutter its doors forever. A nonprofit organization dedicated to veterinary and scientific research, the AHT has undertaken extensive disease surveillance work around the world. The Trust has virus and bacteria isolates that date back 50 years and it holds DNA samples for every registered Thoroughbred in Britain. The Trust has also completed cutting-edge research on equine sarcoid treatment and the use of HDR brachytherapy to address equine cancer.

The AHT board of trustees reported that they were unable to secure funding to make the organization viable long term and that additional announcements would be forthcoming. The AHT was established by Dr. Reginald Wooldridge in 1942 and has offered veterinary services to cats, dogs and horses since its inception. The staff included scientists, veterinarians, nurses and support staff.

The board began indicating in March that the organization was facing financial struggles and began exploring reorganization options, including closing its small animal and equine practices.

Though financial donations were offered, the board noted that it needed longer-term, substantial funding options to remain functioning. They reported that they would feel dishonest if they accepted the donations and were still forced to close.

Read the AHT full statement here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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DNA Testing Brings Retired Racemare Back To Front Back Home Again

Her racing name was Back to Front, but as far as Michelle Macatee is concerned, the now 17-year-old mare is back where she belongs.

It took 13 years after originally adopting her, and more than a decade of searching after life circumstances forced their breakup, for Macatee and the horse lovingly called Bebe to be reunited.

“She was just meant to be back with me,” Macatee, 50 said. “I got her back.”

Foaled Jan. 20, 2003, New York-bred Back to Front is a bay daughter of Senor Speedy out of the Badger Land mare Turnback and Count who raced five times in 2006, finishing second in her debut during the Maryland State Fair meet in Timonium. Her other starts came at Charles Town Race Track in West Virginia.

Claimed for $10,000 out of her second start, Back to Front ran two more times but was retired after refusing to break from the gate in what would be her final race.

It wasn't long before Macatee acquired Back to Front from a Thoroughbred adoption agency in New Jersey, where she was living at the time during a period of 12 years going back and forth between Florida.

“When I first got her as a 4-year-old, I had her for maybe three months and I was out at a bar on the Jersey Shore, I met a guy and went out on a date with him. He lived in Pennsylvania, and she had come from a track in New York to the New Jersey adoption,” Macatee said. “So I'm telling this guy the story of how I just adopted a horse. He asked her name and I told him and he said, 'Did my friends put you up to this?' and he just looked at me really strange.

“He said, 'Show me a picture' and I did, and he said, 'You adopted my horse,'” she added.

Macatee showed horses as a teenager and was in her late 20s when she adopted her first horse off the racetrack, an experience that led her to her love affair with Back to Front.

“I had him for years and sold him to a good home. I was kind of a beginner adult again. I called the adoption agency and said, 'Give me something nice and safe that's not going to kill me, and has a puppy-dog personality,' and that's how I got her. That's her,” Macatee said.

“I originally adopted her as a 4-year-old out of Thoroughbred adoption in New Jersey. I had her on my property here and when I moved to Florida, I brought her with me to Florida,” she added. “I had her a few years and we were just about ready to go to our first show, probably about a month away, and I had a job circumstance change and a breakup and I just couldn't afford her anymore. The horse adoption that was on the property told me that they had a great family with two kids and she was going to live in the backyard. It just seemed like the perfect home for her.”

Fast forward two years. Back on her feet and renting a property in Wellington, Fla., Macatee reached out to the adoption agency to check on Back to Front with the ultimate goal of bringing her home.

“I wanted to offer the people a lot of money to get her back, or at least go visit her,” she said. “They said they didn't have the records of her. All these years I just wanted to go visit her. I would Google her online and her name wasn't coming up. I just kept looking.”

Having moved back to New Jersey full-time, Macatee found herself back in Florida recently for work when she decided to look again. She visited the Florida Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care (TRAC) website, and was stunned with what she found.

“I've been looking for another horse, so I was going through their horses and I was on like the fourth page and then I was going to go back to sleep. I got to the last page, and there she was. Back to Front,” Macatee said. “It was 3 o'clock in the morning. There was nothing I could do. I was walking in circles – I get teary-eyed just talking about it. It's now 9 years later, she's 17 and she was at the adoption for a really long time.”

Macatee had previously noticed a horse that resembled Back to Front, but was listed under the name Annie.

“So what they did was, a year ago, they sent the DNA on her and found out her name. They had a management change [at TRAC] and the management team was getting the records together and they were told she wasn't even a Thoroughbred and she had a different name,” Macatee said. “They saw her tattoo and they did the DNA and got her name, and that's the only way I found her.

“After I found her, I went to TRAC and saw her. She was just as sweet as ever,” she added. “I set up the trailer to come back here to New Jersey that day and I drove up ahead of her.”

Bebe arrived at Macatee's property in New Jersey June 8. The following day, Macatee presented the mare to her 8-year-old granddaughter, Rylie, who is just beginning to take riding lessons.

“Bebe just stood on a loose lead for her half-hour bath, and they walked around the field together and Bebe followed her. And now she's eating lunch in her stall,” Macatee said. “The perfect horse turned out to be her. Rylie said, 'I couldn't have picked out a more beautiful or perfect horse myself.' I'm still crying.”

Back to Front's home now is Westhampton Farm, a state-of-the-art Thoroughbred facility located on 100 acres in Bergen County that backs up to the Burlington Country Club and offers large fields, a pool and other amenities.

“She'll be spoiled rotten,” Macatee said.

Macatee is grateful for having her persistence pay off and culminate in a success story not only for her and her granddaughter, but for their horse.

“I've just been so emotional. I'm talking to you and I'm just sitting here crying. For years I just wanted to go visit her, and here she is. I don't have to worry about her. You always worry about what if somebody sells her or she goes to a bad home or something,” Macatee said.

“It broke my heart when I had to find a home for her, but I thought that she was in a great place. I think the important thing is to find a way to just find them again. The DNA was just amazing,” she added. “She would have been lost without it.”

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