New research from geneticists and biologists at University of California – San Diego believe they’ve developed a more accurate formula to calculate dogs’ ages than our current thinking that seven human years are the equivalent of one dog year. In fact, that energetic year-old pup, may be closer to 30 years old.
Source: Washington Post, November 28, 2019. Link. They specifically looked for similarities in the methylation process between the two sets and found that the DNA profiles evolved in similar ways across the life span of both species. “If you look at the methylomes of 2-year-old Labs and you ask what are the closest human methylomes? The answer is that the best matches are in humans about 40 years old,” said UCSD’s Trey Ideker, the leader of the laboratory running the study. “That is just what the data show, no more, no less.”