It's always good news to hear that breeders are taking advantage of science to better their breeding programs. With the Biewer Terrier, you first have to make sure your pedigree is correct and that you have a Biewer Terrier when you submit for testing. Doing a coat color analysis on our dogs is going to be a major tool to better breeding for our breed.
May I ask what Carolyn's credentials are so people will be able to ascertain what from authority she speaks.
Here are the credentials of our geneticist, Cynthia Fuller Ph.D. and what she had to say about your conclusion that NO other breed was introduced to the Yorkie to achieve the Biewer Terrier coloring
Dr. Fuller received her doctorate in molecular genetics from the University of Maryland and performed basic research at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, where she completed her post-doctoral education. Dr. Fuller then pursued a long career in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry, where she worked for Life Technologies, Genentech and Amgen. She has led teams for diagnostic and therapeutic product development and has coordinated in-depth analyses of numerous product development programs.
Dr. Fuller’s training and experience provide the skill set necessary to evaluate and interpret the growing body of molecular genetics data supporting the Biewer terrier as a distinct breed. A life-long dog lover, she has participated in the growth of her sister’s kennel, Absolutely Adorable Biewers, and has worked with BTCA, Inc. (Biewer Terrier Club of America, Inc.) since 01/08. Dr. Fuller currently resides in Southern California with her husband, teenage children, four dogs and a cat.
This article took what looks like some valid data, but reached inappropriate conclusions. If one accepts that the piebald gene is responsible for the white coat color in Biewers, that is just fine (I am still trying to find out if the piebald gene is located on chromosome 5, the one Paul has identified as being from the XXXXX maybe XXXXX, background). But whomever wrote the article did not account for how the piebald gene got into Yorkies, if, as I understand, it has not been documented before. Given that this allele appears to be recessive (correct me if I am wrong about this) it would have taken a cross between two Yorkies with the recessive piebald gene that they supposedly don’t have to have produced an offspring with white coat color; the chances of that would have been 25% if they each had the recessive allele not previously documented in Yorkies.. But did the Yorkie parents both magically, and independently, each acquire the piebald gene, and from where? This data does not support the argument that no other breed was introduced to produce the Biewer color. The chances of such independent mutations bumping into each other are astronomical. A stray chunk of chromosome from a little cross-breeding wandering into the mix is much more probable. |