48:04
11/20/2024
Episode 14

Epigenetics and Canine Longevity: Unlocking Healthier, Longer Lives for Dogs

In this week’s episode of the Everything Epigenetics podcast, Dr. Christopher Minteer, Nicholas Minteer, and I dive into the fascinating intersection of canine health, longevity, and epigenetics. We explore how their company, Woofgenix, is revolutionizing the field through cutting-edge research and innovative products that aim to extend the lifespan and healthspan of our beloved pets. From understanding the unique epigenetic processes in dogs to uncovering the secrets behind varying breed lifespans, this episode offers insights into how science is shaping a better future for our furry friends.

In this podcast you’ll learn about:

– How Woofgenix uses epigenetic testing to enhance canine longevity.
– The surprising ways epigenetic processes in dogs differ from humans.
– Exciting breakthroughs in canine aging research, including the role of rapamycin.
– Woofgenix’s innovative products like WoofAge, WoofSpan, and Woof Wellness.
– How dog lovers can get involved in longevity research through citizen science initiatives.

About this Guest

Dr. Christopher Minteer and Nicholas Minteer

Dr. Christopher Minteer and Nicholas Minteer are entrepreneurs and co-founders of Woofgenix. Christopher, a Yale-trained experimental pathologist, applies his expertise in aging and disease modeling to consumer technology startups. Nicholas, a University College London graduate, has driven Royal Flagship’s rapid growth as CEO, leading its expansion across global markets.

Woofgenix

Christopher Minteer, PhD – LinkedIn

Christopher Minteer, PhD – X

Nicholas Minter – Instagram

Introduction

welcome to the everything epigenetics podcast where we discuss DNA regulation in the insights it can tell you about

your health I’m Hannah w and I’m the founder of everything epigenetics welcome back

everyone I have a great episode for you today I feel like I say that before all of my episodes but this one is so

exciting because we’re talking about dogs we’re talking about longevity we’re talking about

epigenetics so we cover a lot my guests are uh Dr Christopher mener and his

brother uh Nicholas mener as well we go over how they actually became involved

in the epigenetic space and specifically the dog aging space we talk about how

long dogs can actually live and if there’s a terminal canine limit to life and also when it comes to aging how do

the epigenetic processes in dogs compare to those in humans are there actually any other unique factors that make dogs

a special case we then dive into their company wolf genic um this is a company that is

rolling out several different products as it relates to dogs lifespan their

whole goal meaning they want dogs to live happier healthier longer lives they

have a wolf age product a wolf span product and a wolf Wellness product that we dive into on the podcast we even talk

about from a vets perspective what what the most promising ways are that we can help our furry friends live longer and

healthier lives we also talk about rap aasin and other Pharmaceuticals that are

making a wave in the dog aging space can these Pharmaceuticals actually extend the lifespan of dogs how do we break

that down and how can we actually learn from those types of Interventional treatment studies we then end with how

people can get involved um at Wolf genics and even things like the dog aging project talking to their

Vetinarian um even volunteering with uh within certain nonprofits that are

passionate about dog aging research and we also um talk about the most exciting

uh future projects that involve K9 aging research other big trends and developments that we expect in this

field now a little bit of background information into my guests Dr Chris

mintier is an experimental pathologist um seral entrepreneur and Longevity and Enthusiast he actually completed his PhD

work in the LaVine laboratory at Yale where he developed cellular models for disease he has co-founded several

companies including Royal Flagship a datadriven e-commerce agency that uh studies supply chain networks and market

and then he’s a partner at menteer Capital um that specializes in consumer technology startups he co-founded with

genics with his brother Nick to bridge this gap between um technology and harnessing the K9 genome to provide size

Meet Dr. Christopher and Nicholas Minteer

and preventative vetenary Solutions at scale now Nicholas Miner is also a Serial entrepreneur with expertise in

distribution Finance economics and consumer analytics he also co-founded Royal Flagship and um under his

direction as CEO there the company grew over 14,000 per it was recognized by Inc

magazine as the 39th fastest growing company in the Pacific region he’s also a partner at Miner capital and he’s a

passionate dog lover so he saw this opportunity to advance epigenetic testing and atome Diagnostics to give

dog owners peace of mind and tangible data for making inform decisions about their pets Health as they age now for my

guests Chris and Nick mintier welcome to the everything

epigenetics podcast Chris and Nick thanks for being here today thanks for having us thanks for having say yeah so

we actually first met through your new company all have wolf genics which is

super exciting you all are conducting the world’s largest private K9 genomic

study through a citizen science approach um that’s directly from your your

website and um you know you’re taking all these samples from dogs and really starting to quantify their epigenetics

and maybe even some genomics as well so we we’ll get into the weeds and and talk about that later because personally

that’s what I’m most excited about um but we’re really going to be focused on

dogs their longevity and and epigenetics and dogs and and what that means so it’s

like both of my my passions really combined I’ve always been a dog person I

actually almost became a vet and started off majoring in animal science in college at the University of Kentucky

and then switch later on so you know who doesn’t love love animals but to get us

started um I’d love to hear a little bit more about how both of you ended up at

WF like in the epigenetic space and then maybe the dog space came came first or

or vice versa for sure yeah I to take a stab um so Nick and I you know Brothers

we’ve you know Ser entrepreneurs started a number of companies and W JX was one of those companies that kind of just

form so fly so um at the tail end of my PhD I studied with Morgan LaVine um the

El School medicine and a lot of my work was was characterizing and try to understand what these eptic clock tracks

are capturing and kind of around that same time Nick and I started a company called royal Flagship which was in the

e-commerce world so we had a lot of experience with understanding consumer Brands and Trends and so it kind of

naturally forms you know obviously us being really interested in in in dogs that we know so little about dogs in in

in regards their genetic status and there was just a ton of opportunities to take what early but fascinating sence

that was that was coming through the pipeline in the human side with EP gentics and actually look at that in the realm of dogs so we started the company

and you know now we are a year later and you know we’re making great starts but um yeah I guess to add a little bit to

that um you know being Brothers growing up we’ve always been surrounded by dogs and to be able to use um you know our

understanding of the science and our understanding of you know business business in general to be able to um really tackle and solve problems in this

case being able to find ways to extend you know the number of lives or years and healthful healthy years that we you

know have for our best friends and so I I guess like for us it was something that we saw as an opportunity in the in

the business world to apply science in a way that’s you know really at the cost of doing something super interesting so

we’re excited to kind of break break into that with you Hannah yeah I’m so surprised no one did this earlier it’s

kind of like duh why didn’t someone think of this people care more about their animals than maybe even their like

family members or or friends or significant others so it’s it’s really interesting growing up I had I mean I

always had a dog at uh Basset Hound Gorden retrievers great paries so kind

of these larger breed dogs minus the Basset Hound but we were always really

taught to believe or think that one dog year equals seven human years I remember

my my sister Claire this is like not a funny story but um she gave Bella our Basset Hound like a little bit of beer

in her her water bowl when she turned like three or or 21 in in dog years I

guess yeah um and we’ll we’ll also talk a little bit more about you know how bigger dogs have shorter lifespan and

why we think that is I love larger dogs um I know you both know this as well I had a Bernice mountain dog her name was

Eevee she participated in your study we’ll talk about later too she just passed away unfortunately in May

unexpectedly so now this is even like closer to me um yeah how my question

then I guess is how long can dogs actually live like is there a terminal

canine limit to life yeah that’s a great question I think you know we look at The

Human Side we know just by the number of in people or dogs that are that are

alive there’s going to be a higher kind of stochastic uh effect to the longevity

increasing I think for dogs you know we see in a good example to look at like sledding dogs like I would say the

healthiest in terms of Gene B diversity or Fitness and also in terms of their exercise and diet U those can live into

you know way well is that 20 22 23 years old so I think that’s probably what we

characterize as a good goal but unfortunately for most compan animals and you know at home care and kind of

with the level of in Reading we have is you know you’re looking at 1012 being more of a realistic lifespan but but

that was that’s what motivates us so much and I think what you touched on earlier um is an interesting point is

why hasn’t this been done I think that’s what as we get deeper and deeper in the vetenarian is having kind of been from

an outsider’s perspective always having that interest in dogs always having dogs

Canine Epigenetics: Comparing Dogs and Humans

and having the scientific kind of backing with epigenetics as we continue to ask that question you’d be surprised

but also optimistic about what we really can do there’s so much opportunity so getting to that 20year limit is

definitely feasible it’s just we have to figure out ways to be pre to be proactive with

prevention also too um I guess when you look at total number of years that’s obviously a goal to see you know how can

we expand you know to the maximum number whatever that may be um just letting dogs is a good example of you know you

can definitely see dogs getting into the 20 plus year range but also the number of healthy years so you know using the

anecdote we had a golden retriever growing up you know the last year of its life was you know unfortunate we’d always joked around about how you know

he had an endless garbage pit of a stomach could eat you know forever but we knew you know his years were limited

were limited when he got to the point where he stopped eating completely and you could you know watch you know the animal suffering so it’s also looking at

it from a total number of healthy years so you know even if you can only Extend A Dog’s Life by you know let’s say 20

30% can we get to the point where the the suffering on the tail end of the life of the animal is is reduced to to

near zero and so that’s another big initiative that W Genex has focused on using epigenic to find a a solution

there yeah good point EG yeah that that lifespan and heal SP side of it I didn’t actually know that about sled dogs you

know they’re larger dogs they’re healthy they’re like built to perform a certain task so that’s that’s pretty interesting

and the the golden retriever example is is a good one too um you know they’re really prone to cancer kind of when they

hit a certain um I guess yeah limit in in life they go downhill very drastically and and very quickly that

happened to my golden retriever Zoe um my parents still have two now goose and

um sailor and then um yeah my friends who who have golden retrievers it just seems like overnight they’ll go downhill

and that quality of life is just um devastating so kind of uh going into

that question a little bit more um like we we’ve been talking about there’s a lot of really large Giant breeds like

Great Danes they usually have an average lifespan of 7 to 10 years tiny breeds like Chihuahuas live 14 to 16 years so

we’re talking about this idea that different breeds have these different lifespans so not only do they have those

varying lifespans but it’s possible that aging and age Associated diseases progress differently among breeds just

like the example we gave with golden retrievers and and cancer so that just seems super unusual um very few other

animals in general have such drastic extreme lifespan variation within the same species you know larger uh a mammal

is the longer it’s expected lifespan is a mouse may live only a couple years um that’s why they’re used a lot in in

research and science elephants live over 60 years or or can so when it comes to

aging how do is there anything else we can add or how do those epigenetic processes in dogs compared to those in

in humans like are there any unique factors that make dogs a special case um

within and know you mentioned maybe like the inbreeding could also be a factor I mean I’m pretty sure it’s the most

diverse species we we have on this planet as well yeah it’s it’s it’s a lot

of like really interesting questions to unpack there because you have on one hand you have size so typically larger

you know animals mammals live longer now that does you do see limits to that obviously with within certain you know

breed diversity or or genetic uh um backgrounds like elephants is a good example they have extra copies of

certain genes that make them more resistant to cancer um other animals you know may may not be so lucky you know

there’s even examples of environments like the Greenland shark living to be hundreds of years so I think biology has adapted this just crazy ability to be

resistive and resistant to it particular environment so I think dogs unfortunately have um not had to evolve

through selective crushes to make them I think fit so to speak I think there’s this idea of them evolving to basically

um cater to more of like the happiness Paradox of of human nature so I think

that dogs the larger they typically are the worse off they are in terms of longevity but there are examples of some

relatively Long Live Bree there’s also examples of of of now more inbred like FR Bulldogs are a good example of these

dogs have a slop shoes so I think this is what’s fascinated and really just makes our work so much more I think

impactful at what genx is it’s hard to find that level of diversity in the human pool and I think that you but in a

predictable sense but but what I mean by that is that we know certain breeds have predispositions and we can actually look

at that as a potential predictor for epigenetics and say what is going on kind of underneath the hood and also for

certain breeds whether it be cardiovascular risk factors cancer risk factors is we can actually with enough data actually really get really good

Precision metrics and numbers um that are going to be even more granular than just looking at size in general so it’s

a really fascinating pool just by looking at you know different Bree sizes but there just just so little we know

that you know we could be uncovering that you know has really not been done before absolutely anything to add there

Nick I think that the the um the interesting piece about dogs is they’re kind of in The Sweet Spot where to you

know Chris’s Point there’s a lot that we can uncover and learn um but also given the total number of years that dogs that

dogs live we can we can learn a lot faster than on The Human Side so a lot of the developments that we’re seeing on The Human Side can take you know you

know in in some cases you know seven times longer um going back to your original example Hannah of what we had originally thought you know s to ratio

um so there’s a lot more that we can learn about dogs but also we can you know help apply that to The Human Side and so you know I think that for us is

that’s very much the goal of wolf genics is to you know uncover all these things here on the on the dog side but see you

know how can we apply some of this that we’re learning in a more accelerated rate into the human in the human world

right yeah I’m hearing a couple things one it’s just so early right we’re we’re scratching the surface which is

extremely exciting but then number two maybe it’s our fault as humans um regarding the the shorten dog lifespan

because you’re right like they’re um you know maybe that’s the reason the sled dogs live so much longer is because

they’re doing what they were built to do um and then these pets that usually are just in in a home like their entire goal

is to make people happy they’re not necessarily evolving for maybe any other reason so that’s an interesting hypothesis yeah you I even think if you

look at how breeds like what we characterize as breed now even like is a pretty loose like obviously you can do a

breed test but you know they kind of the 18th 19th like even 20th centuries when breeds were coming about they were bred

for a particular purpose now dogs are bred to basically you know be hypoallergenic to be an apartment dog

they’re bred to have a good personality to be a family dog so those aren’t necessarily selective pressures are going to lead you to be more

biologically fit so to speak but that’s what makes I think the the the field so much more fascinated right now is and

also as a genetic case study is it just gives us all more all the more opportunity to try to have an impact to

a ni saying about hell span is that there there should and definitely this is our hypothesis is that there’s a lot

The Science Behind Longevity: Breed and Size Insights

more we could be doing to give you know our our best friends in this case that are alive it’s just not being done

because we don’t have the tools at our disposal yeah exactly absolutely I think

that I think the history of even Bernice Mountain Dogs is really interesting um so you know they were traced back to the

Roman invasion of Switzerland over 2,000 years ago and they have a really interesting like backstory they were used to to pull carts and do kind of

they were definitely a working dog but they almost went extinct at one point so um now they have this website called

like burner grade it’s a really screwy old website but it actually traces the lineage for all bernes mountain dogs um

if you you know enter their if the owner enters their their data and stuff so I think that could be you know helpful and

useful for for studying dogs like this um I think you’re right Chris there’s all these like poles come to mind right

there’s all these mixed reads with with poodles um to make them hypoallergenic um as as well so it makes for for

definitely an interesting study uh example so I want I want to jump into uh

with genics though and then the study you all are doing there I remember um going to your website entering my

information you know receiving a a kit um forcing Eevee to take a a swab from

her mouth it was really really easy um and then you know sending the the sample back and you all processing it so talk

to us a little bit about you know wolf genics um kind of some of the exciting discoveries you’re you’re coming across

in that can9 longevity um and and what you’re really building there yeah yeah so for starters we’re

trying to understand you know just Canan epigenic in general there’s so little you know that’s been published um

there’s there’s some really compelling literature that we can capture and follow similar principles training mechanisms that we’ve done the human s

of dogs but so our primary goal was to just understand if we can capture and

build measures that could be working for the whole so um that means that our primary goal with the with with Wags we

genics aging and genomic study was to capture as many dogs as possible from a as many home environments as possible

you know breed mix pure bread so to try to get as much participation um and really we we did a fantastic job of

getting pretty much every corner of the country um socioeconomic status to get different diets behaviors I mean people

have so many different Tendencies for how they care for their dog so that was kind of our primary goal with this first

step as we’re calling W 1.0 is let’s if what we’re is what if what we’re getting

from the initial epigenetic results is what we’d expect and it is and we actually have some really really great initial results that leads us to believe

that even and this is I think a fascinating point that you know many probably Overlook is that the size this

we’re talking about like an order of magnitude so a Chihuahua versus a great Den we actually even had a Mastiff that

was nearly 200 pounds that recently joined so I mean these are just seismic differences that we probably take for

granted on The Human Side that we’re so our first goal was really to say is this possible and very much star Le it yes

but we’re finding very interesting stuff in our data that leads us to believe that the sky the limit with how we can

use epigenetics to predict not just um biological age and use that as a tool but also actually dig into more granular

metrics with disease yeah Nick do you want to um talk

about even maybe some of the products coming out from from Wolf genics like what that’s going to look like do people get you know when we talk about epics

the first thing that comes to mind or maybe they even hear about the biological aging first so will you all have like a biological age for your dog

and and what are the implications there what ises that really mean yeah absolutely I guess too I could first start out with um we actually have an

app so wolf genx has has an app and um you know part of the reason that we wanted to to launch an app is to um

create a community and so you know with uh with this we’re pleasantly surprised the number of people who are wanting to

participate in the wolf gentic study and we’re willing to really invest you know 15 20 minutes actually to you know fill

out the survey and give us the information that we need um you know collect the the saliva sample so that we can you know really understand um you

know from the science perspective and so we launched an app so that people could stay involved with everything that we’re doing um you know and be able to have

access to some of these products that you’re speaking to so um right now there’s two products that we’re launching on the epigeic side one is

called wolf age which is understanding of your dogs um uh chronological age and then we have one called wolf span um

which is in in large part going to be hitting on the dogs biological age um and to break that down just in lay in

terms is obviously we have you know the age of your dog which is you know synonymous with with the birth date of your dog um and then you have more of

the biological age which is you know understanding well maybe what is the true age of your animal based upon a number of different factors that we’re

you know analyzing and understanding um and I think the important piece about both of these um tests is you know it’s

it’s an evolving process and so for us is um you know there’s there’s various things that we’re able to understand

early um but you know participating in these studies is is allowing us to just make our measures that much better and

be able to better understand you know again getting back to the health span and lifespan of animals so um those are

the two products we also have another one which is um more in the in the blood testing side which is called wolf Wellness um and those are those are um

providing more of a of a mass Market um application to what kind of exists more in the conier side and so um kind of

across the board was we’re finding ways to deliver um you know products and services to to people um in in a mass

Market way um both wolf age and wolf span are coming soon wolf age is going to be launched here actually very very

shortly and so the best way to to find out about how to be a part of that is to download the wolf genix app um where we

provide you know news updates and all that kind of stuff yeah I have the app too I was just like scrolling through it

a little and it’s like it’s so cute it has the W Age The W span I and then I didn’t know you all we doing the the

wolf uh Wellness like more of that coners program which is awesome so I think they all could be super useful

because if people are adopting dogs and they don’t know the age of their dog and want to know how old it is they could do

the wolf age and then for people who do know the birth a of their dog or even just interested about the biological age

the health of the overall um pup then they can do the the wolf span as well um and then would you all be you know let’s

say for example someone does the wolf span test biological age of the dog comes back higher um would you all be

recommending therapies then as well I know Rapa myin is a a really big topic

so it’s it’s has to come up during during this talk right there are um studies that have shown Rapa myosin to

actually increase dog’s lifespan by about 30% so curious to know if You’ be making recommendations as well yeah yeah

and I think Nick Nick summarized whatand really really nicely there is you know trying to understand kind of this health

span state of what the dog’s aging is actually in in in terms of the actual Fitness function and re and and disease

risk but that’s going to come it this was our primary goal is to not just give them

that isn’t somewhat questionable so right now you know it’s obviously still in development but we’re looking at

things like kidney liver function cardiovascular risk risk for disease cancer so we’re Fitness scor so we’re

trying to give people essentially a report that would give them proactive steps that says loop loop this in or mix

this into your typical veter care routine every six months or 12 months and this will essentially be a compass

to help you guide care to a more productive sense but yes very much um we’re actively involved with various

clinics we actually have have a genomics trial that’s that’s related to rapiz and called clear so the Canan longevity

epigenic assess assessment with rapy that’s very recently starting but we’re actually investigating epigenetic

changes that can occur with different oral forms of Ramin so we’re highly uh

interested in understanding kind of what you can do with this data because the the test alone you know is just the

starting point for us which is also why we created this conier blood testing now we’re called wolf Wellness which we can

unpack more um but it’s definitely very much something that we’re working with we’re working with v we’re working with

Woofgenix: Research and Products Revolutionizing Dog Care

um owners we’re trying to understand kind of what is the most value they can gain from this type of testing um we’re

also working with um we can be more public soon is working with a bunch of of of companies we’re trying to

understand of large research organizations so we’re very much in the space of trying to be collaborative we want this to be something that we can

touch other people’s compound that we can understand what fitness routines I’m even looking into for example training

dogs or service animals that maybe have a more fit biological a so really trying to say when we have this level of of of

granular biological understanding what do it mean and what can so definitely linking it to some type of prevention is

our our our highest goal and I think to just add one other point to that too is um it provides a

level of objectivity to kind of the actions that you’re taking and so the purpose of wol span is not a one anddone

test it’s meant to be taken over the the course of the animals life um to be able to provide some objective uh measure to

the things that you’re doing such as you know food exercise you know various you know medical um you know medical devices

and so it’s a way for us to be able to track over the course of the life you know in a more objective way as to

whether or not you know what you’re doing for your animal is actually you know moving the needle so to speak to be able to improve the overall health span

yeah and would you say Nick that that test would be like every six months or so is there kind of an estimate the free

bits right now would be biannually um and so as we go we’re going to see if if that needs to be changed based upon you

know breed size and but right now the the standard is twice twice a year gotcha yeah um it’s it’s interesting I

think it could help really even pet owners right they’re the the ones who are going to have to take action to to

lengthen their their dogs life um a a silly example comes to mind so uh my

parents-in-law they have a um little mixed breed her name is Kenna she’s so cute and adorable she’s starting to

become over weight because her she just roams around there five anchors in in the country in Kentucky and all the

neighbors feed her too so they don’t really know like what they’re feeding her and then she get comes home and she

gets like you know double breakfast double dinner so I imagine if they take this test the whols spand test it shows her biological ages older maybe then it

I don’t know starts or prompts a conversation with the neighbors like hey don’t feed my dog anymore or like what are you feeding it so I can like lessen

the amount of food I’m feeding it because I think the Obesity in anal is hard because parents and don’t want to

take away food too oh 100% we we’ve definitely ran into that with with all the animals we’ve owned they love to eat

and you know it’s definitely the joy of having an animals you know you you would love to feed them and you know you know neighbors as well a similar example with

you know our present dog Winston he’s a he’s a very large golden doodle and you know he lives to eat for sure um but

this this this test is able to you know provide a little bit of a wake up for the owner um to be able to see

objectively that this is this is having a tangible impact on the heal fan of the animal but then to also be able to see

that improve over the course of the life of the animal so for us is you know it’s it’s a report card if you will um that you hope to be able to see it

improve absolutely so and I know you all have some veterinarians on on board as well at at Wolf Genex um so from a vet

perspective if we’re just talking even like generalized terms here you can talk I don’t know lifestyle supplement

medication any procedural based therapies what are some of the most promising ways that we can help our

little best friend live longer and healthier lives or or maybe what are some of the types of recommendations that you all would be giving back on the

report yeah and yeah so we we recently brought on Dr Brook Owens under the team as our director of veter medicine she’s

absolutely amazing we’ve learned just a tremendous amount from her and just you know the three4 months she’s been involved with the team she’s very much a

rare breed in terms of she’s only mainly focused on conier care she works in the south Florida Miami area and I would I

would say just learning from her and understanding the industry the best practices definitely would be to have a relationship with a veterinarian to have

um I think early and often Pro proactive and preventive testing and this is and this is going back to our consur program

what Wellness is really trying to create uh blood testing or or promote blood

testing to be more mainstream I think there’s so much we can gain from understanding um or getting baselines

for different testing um um your analysis stool testing blood testing so definitely doing that to get a base

because most veterinarian cares reactive so we need to get a good base and have a good understanding of what could be

preventable and that’s very much very specific um I think having a good exercise and diet routine is another one

so I think both those is just to start are really a must to to give your dog the best chance is make sure they’re not

overweight make sure they have a good Fitness routine and even there’s actually um pretty interesting literature now talking about seemingly

obvious but also you know sometimes these studies are helpful as a reminder on social interactions so the benefits

of just your dog having bre so to speak going out to the park so these kind of just base factors of trying to be the

best pet owner you can be those are really important but there’s a lot of um uh um changes that occur that you can

look at in the blood as an example that are really important to make sure that your dog doesn’t have conditions with

their thyroid or there’s not preventative actions that could be taken earlier which is also what we’re obviously trying to do with wpan but um

all very very important yeah yes go ahead Nick well

going to say you know a lot of it’s what we what we see on The Human Side is is diet and exercise is Big um I think

there’s just one point it seems obvious but I think it’s important to keep in mind that you know a dog can’t necessarily take itself on a walk and so

as an owner it’s important to realize that you know what your dog is consuming and the exercise your dog gets is the

direct you know byproduct of of its owner um and so just you know keeping that in mind that your dog can’t

necessarily you know cook its own food and and take itself on a walk and so it’s it’s important as an owner to to realize that these are these are two

very big levers to pull and improving your dog’s health span and hopefully very soon we’ll be able to show that you know objectively yeah I think a couple

things come from that I think um that was a great Point Nick owner education like about the breed about the dog that

they’re getting um is is really important you know say for example like a um Shepherd right that needs a lot of

exercise if you know you work 60 70 hours a week probably not the best dog for you if you can’t walk away from the

computer you know can’t kind of go and and throw the frisbeer take him to a dog park and and social them as well that’s

really big for those breeds um that’s probably why I choose really lazy breeds now so they just need one walk around

the block and you know they’re they’re good for the day or you know they do one Sprint and and they’re like done it’s

less work on on our end as as owners um and then Chris you made a good point as well a relationship with your vet I know

I don’t have one um I know I love my vet um they are really great people I feel

like they’ve always taken great care of my dogs which is kind of why I wanted to be a Vetinarian when I was a little girl

um but I would only go when there was a problem so I would only take Eevee you know more recently to the V when she had

worms for example to get a medication um I would just take her when she needed um

shots or updated um you know Heart Guard ftic medicine I don’t think I’ve ever

taken her for something preventable um so that’s super interesting as we start to see this preventative longevity

medicine explode within the human world it’s like why wouldn’t we do that for our companion animals as well it it’s we

can’t preach enough having worked with you know vets like like Dr Owens and others that vets are just a in they are

a Fountain of Knowledge in terms of prevention but most of the time they don’t get to really exercise that

because you know your dog like in this case our childhood dog Sunny you know he’s starting to throw blood so you take

him into the Vet he has stomach cancer right so those are there is obviously at some point a limit to what can be done

but if you start early enough and this is where bringing back the education piece we’re so interested in is we’re

going to be bringing out a lot of veterinarians vetenarian technicians on the app and saying what breed should I be getting how do I take better care of

them and motivating more of that connection facilitating one-on-one calls with veterinarians in our group but also

trying to work with vet clinics across the country and really commercializing this idea of also having the biological

EDS coupled to blood testing because if you have and I would say you know everyone’s listening to this is call up

your vet and just ask just ask questions I think most people maybe either don’t have access that if you don’t try to

figure out a way to access that um but it’s such an important piece that there’s a lot that can be done there’s a

strategy it’s a care plan no if than anything else for yourself or a family member exactly and I think to add to

that a little bit too is Wolf genics in general is not looking to replace any of you know current relationships with

veterinarians it’s meant to be a supplement and so to use the app which is you know easy connectivity to like

Chris is saying vet teex and and wolf genics licensed veterinarians um you know this can kind of start the

conversation can be an easy way to ask these um you know proactive questions um but really it’s a supplement to your

current um you know relationship with your vet so I think to get back to your point Hannah is you know we would

encourage people to seek out local connections to their vets ensure that you have that proper connection uh but

then to also supplement that with W genics Community yeah my my vet was so friendly eie would have seizures as well

and I would just call them up and I’m like oh they probably want me to like bring her in and you know we ended up playing a bunch of phone tags so I did

bring you know her in they did a small consultation charge they they looked over her made every made sure everything

was okay but they were willing to have a conversation with me over the phone I think they tried calling me back like five times which is crazy um and so it’s

just you know free knowledge education that that I could use to be a better pet owner too so I’m super excited for your

education that’s coming out on the app I know you all have a lot of great things in the work um that’ll be become more

more public soon maybe even by the time we publish this we can link out to a lot of those things and you know relationships collaborations other

studies that you all are doing it’ be super cool to even have I’m sure there’s something out there like that um but I

bet you all could do it better which is like what dog breed should I have and you know based on their lifestyle kind of what they do you all could recommend

something and it would just make everyone a little bit uh better in terms of owning a dog too so um I mentioned

Rapa mein just briefly um I know um you

know there’s there’s some really really exciting work going on um even out of

loyal um the the dog company as well so um they more recently it’s probably been

I don’t know six or nine months ago now have brought what they think is the first drug explicitly approved en labeled for healthy lifespan uh

extension known as the L y- 00001 um are you all also looking into to that drug

um they’ve gotten you know condition uh conditional approval application for um the use of that drug and large dog

lifespan extension which is really really um about inhibiting um igf-1 and

they may think there’s this connection where high igf-1 levels are um what causes you know dogs to grow really

large when they’re young um but we know high igf-1 levels and adult dogs may be believed to accelerate aging and reduce

their healthy lifespan so I’d love to hear your thoughts about um that as well yeah I mean I think in short where dog

longevity as a treatment modality is definitely is if it’s it’s it’s almost

here I would say it’s it’s coming um and Loy has made great strides and it’s an example that I think the Capital markets

are investing aggressively into what otherwise will be think a very popular choice for owners in the coming future

or or at least a decision to make is do I invest in this now I still think we’re ways off from really trying to better

understand which dogs will benefit so I’m curious to see what their develop P plan looks like um in the near future

but I think others you know groups if you look in the academic world the dog aging project has made incredible threat

um you know looking at rapy as a as you know yes a treatment modality but just trying to understand kind of its

How to Support Canine Aging Research

potential implications with lifespan and health span we’ve taken the S we gentics we’re curious to really build out the

most knowledge we can have about how dogs age and use that to develop the most gr and report card that we can um

at different life stages so to work with drug development companies and to work with you know ladge and other innovators

that to try to understand how this can be used in conjunction with those um prescription modalities I think it’s

definitely going to be interesting to see what happens with how dogs react side effects um how they track the

progress obviously with any glal trial not every dog’s going to be reacting productively I think from minor of what

loyal doing is they’re attacking a very very small subset make and it makes sense from the development perspective

but I think other drugs I mean rapon you know is obviously a popular one is definitely something I think you

probably could have a larger effect of than larg of dogs but something that will uh still uh to be determined yeah

yeah I think that we we think it’s about again getting back to the objectivity of you know using things like wol span to

understand what’s moving the needle you know that there’s not a one- siiz fits-all solution um whether it’s rap mein whether it’s you know a drug that’s

being developed by loyal we’re curious to understand the impact on you know dogs in general and to see if that’s

actually having a tangible impact knowing again that there’s not like a one- siiz fitall solution and we we also

there hasn’t been to date an example of epigenic being used to get a drug approv

but this is very much with dog is you know this has always been a debate in human Healthcare is how do we get drugs

approved quicker and that’s definitely some things down coming down the pipeline for what JX is trying to use

these tasks I think we even spoke about this Hannah earlier to motivate and kind of better understand what that step what

what action could be taken so we’re we’re doing our own investigations actually using rap with um various

clinics in South Florida so we’re curious that those results should be um the first results should be back in

about a year um but I think you’re going to see explosion of different companies coming into space which is exciting

because I think it’s also going to have an impact on human health yeah yeah definitely and you all can can work together and kind of look at each

other’s data see what’s working what’s not it’s just hard obviously easier in dogs because they have those shorter lifespans but we need that outcome data

as well right did the dogs develop XYZ I don’t know if if there are like Dog bio

Banks I don’t know if that’s what the dog aging project is is trying to do so I enrolled Eevee in the dog aging project their mission directly from

their website is that they conduct um a lot of scientific research designed to Define explain and amarate the effects

of Aging so they’ve really built this community of volunteers researchers who

all have a love for dogs and they’re really committed to helping dogs and humans live longer healthier lives together um and they do so by having you

you know enroll in the study enter um I mean oh the the uh the questions they

asked like I didn’t even think I knew the answer to about just how your dog behaves what they eat they would have

you do certain um like agility courses with your dog and like time them and um

they would have you kind of update those even I think every six months to every 12 months as well so they could really track the progress so it was really

really cool what they were what they were collecting I’m sure that that data is invaluable to to companies like with genx and others studying the same thing

yeah and Matt kin’s actually on on our team is one of our advisors and you know the work him ding the promis on the rest

of the dog engine project of done is absolutely exceptional and you know we we wish him the best with getting this much funding from it’s is possible and

it’s they’re they’re doing not just I think a lot of this this bi Banking and development but also like you’re saying

they’re really tracking the dogs over the course of their life so it’s exciting to see their Panthers that come out and hopefully you know many more to

come with I think related back to more of the intervention side yeah for sure um well cool we’re we’re getting to the

end there I just have a couple more questions for you all um for people who are fascinated they’re listening um they

want to get involved in dog aging research um there’s a lot of things they can do like is it the dog aging project

is it you know taking a sample with with genx is it just signing up for the app like what would you recommend people

doing directly yeah so I think and this is a question we get a lot is like how are

you you know there’s already the dog aiing project and and our answer that is of course but there definitely needs to

be as many um Avenues active at any one time as we shopped on goal so to speak

and so from our perspectives we have more granular um objectives trying to get get some of these epic tests to

commercial means to help as many dogs will get that mass market so owners can come on and go to we gen.com they can

always participate in our studies and if they qualify we’ll ship them um Buckle uh um um capture um kits like like you

did H um with that as well we have actually an evolving process where we’re kickstarting additional trials and

additional studies um some of these are actually going to be more partner with local um clinics so as as our website

evolves which it will over the next few weeks and months is there’ll be more opportunities people can see what they qualify for uh we’re going to be doing

some big dog studies we’re going to be doing specific breed studies so for us is you know we this just the tip the

iceberg and with that spe uh to give mind as well as there’s a lot of other exceptional groups doing project and

others that um I’d always say is if you have let’s say a golden retriever or any particular breed usually like you said with bur MGS there’s usually groups

nonprofits organizations that are doing interesting work so if you really want to get involved just do some research

contact your local veterinarian um I do know that some projects um are still open with the dog project I think others

are closed but you could I would definitely uh tell dog owners that we we

are relying on kind of the citizen science approach to get as much information as possible there’s not the same uh degree or or we hav an

accumulated the same level of biobanks as we have in the human space so we’re very much relying on people getting involved we’re growing wolf genics from

a community perspective which again is why we have the app so I think probably the easiest way is to download the app

or just go to WF genex.com um but just keeping in mind that you know we’re growing this from the community perspective and so we want

people’s input we want people to be involved we want people to complete the um the surveys um and I think from the

biob banking perspective is it kind of hits at the Legacy effect is you know your dog is stored in our biobanks and

will be used for research to help dogs live longer in the future and so obviously you know unfortunately dogs

don’t live forever and so it kind of does impact that Legacy you know have your dog has a legacy on um you know

future dogs generation so definitely reach out to us you know we’re we’re trying to grow this um you know with

with people in mind and so we want people’s feedback we want people to participate and feel um welcomed you

know and that’s that’s again getting getting back to why we have the app yeah that’s what I love too is you you all

are really putting the Community First so it’s like if you build this community everyone who’s involved they’re adding

data they’re meeting people I think you all are doing even like meetups and in Miami and and things where um people can

even start to come in person I think that’s huge and then I only think it’s going to snowball and and grow from there so I’m so excited to to watch you

all grow um looking ahead uh this questions for both of you what are each

of you most excited about for the future of K9 aging research is there if you had to just name like one thing in

particular whether it’s like what you’re personally excited about or just like for wolf chenex and the

company I mean I think for myself is I’m excited to see you know wolf jencks and other companies put prevention first and

really trying to change the consumer landscape I think that’s always exciting when you go into a space that is so Evol

it’s so fast evolving the types of animals that people are getting the way you know people are having kids later in

life I mean these these animals are their like fur baby so to speak so I think from from mine I’m just excited to

see a lot of the science that has been kept in the human world be applied to dogs but also just kind of I think

create a new narrative and try to make it more mainstream about the idea of preventure that is very much here it’s economical it’s it’s not something that

is only available to Rich it’s very much something that people could afford so I think really for us it’s just going to

be exciting to kind of see that play out and I think very shortly over the next few months actually when we get started yeah absolutely I think that anytime you

can come into a space and disrupt it and see you know other companies try to you know follow suit with what you’re doing

from Innovation perspective is is definitely um very motivating um but I mean in a nutshell is you know the wolf

jxs ideology is helping dogs live healthier longer and so to be able to objectively measure that and say that

you know the things that we’re doing as a company um we’re living up to that and so we’re actually able to you know provide those those you know healthy um

years back to the owners and and you know unfortunately dogs can’t live forever but that’s very much you know the the objective goal of of w genics

yeah definitely that’s a really good point too Chris is um when you start to look at like the dollar amount or the

figure that goes behind prevention um you know this this happens obviously in like human health as well this the siare

model versus Healthcare model but that bills can be so expensive and out of the blue right um and if you can just catch

something early and then save those thousands of dollars on the back end by not having to go into surgery or not

having to you know put put the dog under during surgery um I mean just the relief

on the owner and the actual pet um and not having to go through the healing process could be huge so just wanted to

to call that out yeah very much a conier space that’s affordable I think some you he these big ticket uh networks to The

Human Side that are seemingly unaffordable out of pocket this is definitely something that our goal is to make this uh as high impact as possible

not just the us but globally as well yeah yeah awesome my last question for you while I ask every one of my guests

who come on to the podcast it’s really relatable for this episode if you all could be any animal in the world what

would you be and why and some people have said dogs um oh they interesting

any animal in the world um off Grand if we don’t choose a dog is that a you can

choose you don’t have to choose a dog you you all get a pass some people are like oh I I’ve known this answer they’re

like wait a second I have no idea oh wow I think I seems to be an elephant they

seem they they have um a lot of freedom I think and they’re still like a a

species that I think has good respect and good good obviously longevity but they have a um a good family I think

community of of animals I think you know they’re very matriarchal species but they also have one that I think they’re

um they also I think their diet they seem like they’re doing some right his longevity so I was I would say elephant

there you go um well if I weren’t to choose a dog I would probably choose I’ve always been fasted by the uh by the

Orca um within you know the dolphin family I I think kind of hitting back at the the idea of of families they’re

strong family community but they’re also very different I mean they’re they’re all over the world and um you know a lot of their diets based upon you know how

they were raised and um you know to my knowledge there actually been no recorded um human fatalities in the wild

and so I find that actually quite interesting that there’s you know such a such an elegant such a powerful animal yet you know it’s it’s not had any any

negative effects on humans from that perspective but um if it wasn’t an orca I’d probably choose a golden retri perfect perfect yeah no one has

has said elephant or Orca and I think both answers are are similar I’ve seen like videos of like elephants like

joking with humans and like hiding you know their hats or something under their trunk and like joking with them and then

same for orcas like you see them circling like kayaks and kind of playing with humans too so just a fun question

to to end on but thanks so much uh Chris and Nick this was awesome I’ll make sure

to link everything in the show notes where people can find you um remember you can download the W genx app um if

you all want to become a little bit more involved they’re you know solely relying on the community to help drive this

research and you can go to Wolf genex.com to see if you’re if you have a pup and and they qualify for the study

um so uh with all that being said thanks everyone for listening and joining us at

the everything epigenetics podcast remember you have control over your epigenetics so tune in next time to learn more thanks Nick and Chris thank