Canine Genetic Disease Information System

The Canine Genetic Disease Information System (CGDIS), developed by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, is designed to provide the first single comprehensive source of information on canine genetic diseases.

The CGDIS is a knowledgebase composed of data on dog genetic diseases as well as a software program for accessing and displaying the information.

It contains information on over 370 canine genetic diseases, and nearly 200 dog breeds are represented.

The diseases in the database encompass a variety of congenital malformations, abnormalities in growth and development, endocrine and reproductive disorders, degenerative diseases, metabolic diseases, behavioral disorders, susceptibilities to particular types of cancer, and inherited deficiencies of the immune system that may predispose dogs to infectious disease The database is organised into sections with detailed information for those with veterinary medical or genetic expertise, as well as summaries suitable for users with little or no background in genetics or medical science. Information on each disease includes the following: short non technical description of the disease, more extensive description of the underlying disease mechanism and clinical diagnosis, list of standard diagnostic signs, laboratory tests, pathology, detailed information on genetics and control, breeds known to be affected, and references.

In addition, there is a separate profile of the disease in each breed known to be affected.

Finally, the database contains a section designed to keep track of evolving information on laboratory testing for genetic diseases, gene cloning, and gene mapping in the dog.

The database has extensive search capabilities, e.g searching by diseases known to affect a particular breed; searching for a list of known genetic diseases with one or more specified clinical signs; looking for a list of genetic diseases affecting a particularly body system; searching for all current knowledge about a particular genetic disease; and searching for references to any disease by disease name, author, title, journal or year.

Fields of information can be combined in a search, making the database a highly useful aid to the clinical diagnosis of genetic diseases. The CD-ROM will be offered only with the book GENETIC DISEASES OF DOGS as a package and will not be sold separately.