🐾 Did you know that the way we calculate a dog's age in "human years" is not entirely accurate? 🤔
📚 Recent studies have shown that dogs don't age at the same rate as humans, and that the common rule of thumb of 1 dog year equals 7 human years is just a rough estimate. 🐶
🧐 In fact, a study published in the journal "Cell Systems" by Wang et al. (2020) found that the DNA methylation patterns in dogs' genomes change in a way that's similar to how they change in humans over time. By comparing these patterns to human DNA methylation patterns, the researchers came up with a new way of calculating a dog's age in human years.
📊 The chart above shows the new dog age conversion formula, with the blue line representing dogs and the orange line representing humans. According to this formula, a 1-year-old dog is equivalent to a 30-year-old human, but a 10-year-old dog is more like a 68-year-old human. 🤯
👉 So next time you're wondering how old your furry friend is in "human years," remember that it's not as simple as multiplying by 7. And always make sure to give your dog plenty of love, attention, and care, no matter their age! ❤️🐾
Data source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337031839_Quantitative_translation_of_dog-to-human_aging_by_conserved_remodeling_of_epigenetic_networks