But how does your DOG feel about it?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Many studies have tried to link genetic factors to personality traits in humans. Sniffing out whether that’s true is… complex.
So Enoch Alex and team at the University of Cambridge UK turned to man’s best friend. Dogs!!
They linked traits in dogs, like aggression or trainability, to specific genes. Then, they compared them to human DNA. Curiously, they found many similarities. The same genes that code for personality in dogs also code for personality in humans! Woof!
These findings tell us where in our DNA to look for personality traits.
Like the kids say “I got that dawg in me!”
Reference: Alex, E., Gennotte, P., Nuevo, A. M., Yu, Y., Keep, B., Sullivan, M., Mills, D., Warrier, V., & Raffan, E. (2025). GWAS for behavioral traits in golden retrievers identifies genes implicated in human temperament, mental health, and cognition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(48), e2421757122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2421757122