In this activity, students identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are correlated with different traits in dogs to identify genes associated with those traits.

Based on the dog genome project data, this activity complements a 29-minute lecture by Dr. Elinor Karlsson of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA, in which she discusses genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The activity was created using actual sequence data from DNA isolated from dog saliva, which was obtained and analyzed by Dr. Karlsson and colleagues at the Broad.

This four-part activity includes: answering questions after reading a press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), watching an optional video lecture by Dr. Elinor Karlsson explaining GWAS, identifying  correlations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and phenotypes, using SNP Cards, and completing an optional statistical analysis activity that uses chi-square analysis.