Adam Boyko, PhD

Learn how to factor genetic health results into breeding decisions in this introductory video with Dr. Adam Boyko. How should I factor my dog’s health results into my breeding decisions? Many breeders receive their dog’s Embark results and discover that their dog is a carrier or at-risk for a genetic health condition. This prompts a...

Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a certain species. Embark cofounder and Chief Science Officer Dr. Adam Boyko explains genetic diversity and how it affects dogs in the following video. Dr. Boyko has traveled to every inhabitable continent to study dogs and is a professor at...

I adopted my mutt Penny from an animal shelter in Rochester, NY. The shelter labeled her as a “Terrier-Basenji” mix. She certainly had the curly tail of a Basenji, but many dogs have curly tails. As a dog geneticist, I knew that if she truly was part Basenji, it would become very clear with a...

For millenia, dog breeders have intentionally mated relatives as a way to fix traits in a lineage, recognizing that there is a reduction of fitness in offspring of close relatives. However, this certainly wasn’t always intentional as one can see from this post on the Hapsburg lip. A century ago, Sewall Wright devised the coefficient...

I founded Embark because I love dogs and science. My earliest experiences as a biologist came in the rainforests of Costa Rica and Panama studying all different sorts of tropical biodiversity, and also getting friendly with the free-ranging dogs wandering around the nearby towns (my family even adopted a dog in Panama when we lived...