Dog DNA Testing Gets Its Day

For Ryan and Adam Boyko, dog drool is a family business. Over the past decade, the brothers have traveled the globe, fetching thousands of saliva samples from pups in Croatia, Fiji, India, Peru, Qatar, Uganda, and a dozen other countries. They carried the samples back to Adam’s genetics lab at Cornell University, where they scoured the DNA for clues about the history and evolution of man’s best friend.

Now the Boykos want to expand the pack. By the end of spring, they say, their new canine genetics company, Embark Veterinary, will begin selling testing kits designed to give U.S. dog owners scientific insight into their pets’ health, behavior, and ancestry. (Think 23andMe for the furry, four-legged set.) Using that data, the company also plans to learn more about overall canine health and behavior. “We’re interested not only in returning information to owners, but actually improving the way dog genetic research is done,” says Adam, Embark’s chief science officer and an assistant professor at Cornell’s veterinary college, the startup’s research partner.