This process involves compressing biomass and lowering moisture levels to a range of 8-10%, allowing for an homogenous fuel – either in the form of pellets or briquettes. In general, moisture content in woodchips used for energy generation in municipal or industrial plants ranges between 20-30%.ĭensification is another popular way to transform woody material into an advanced fuel with high calorific value. These operations help transform biomass into homogeneous fuel that is easy to handle, with a higher energy recovery (eg. Leslie A.Logging, grinding, screening and drying operations are mechanical processes for enhancing solid biomass fuels. And a Genetics in Medicine report found that results from human genetic-testing companies were inaccurate 40% of the time.īrenda Bonnett, DVM, PhD, CEO, International Partnership for Dogs, phone interview, May 16, 2019Īdam Boyko, PhD, co-founder and chief science officer of Embark Veterinary, and associate professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, email interview, May 24, 2019Īngela Hughes, DVM, PhD, veterinary geneticist, Wisdom Health, phone interview, May 20, 2019 The company claims the test’s reports are more precise but has declined to share an accuracy rate for its updated product.īoth companies claim to use the latest human genetics science to test each dog’s DNA, but as we discovered while covering human ancestry tests, big companies rely on algorithms, or guesses, to estimate ancestry percentages-so there’s no way to know their accuracy for sure. Wisdom Panel revamped its testing protocol in 2020 and now uses 100,000 genetic markers. (Because DNA companies use proprietary technology, we couldn’t independently verify the accuracy of their breed and health reports.)
Since Wisdom Panel used fewer data points, its results weren’t as precise, and it claimed a 93% accuracy rate. At the time, Embark analyzed 110 times more genetic markers than Wisdom Panel, so its results were more granular (200,000 versus 1,800, respectively). In 2019, Embark said its breed results were 95% to 99% accurate. But when polled, Wirecutter’s pet owners unanimously agreed that they’d prefer to be able to access all of the information they’d paid for, and to be able to discuss their results with a vet.ĭiscerning accuracy among DNA tests isn’t cut-and-dried because the companies are only as reliable as the science behind them. She added that they’ve tested over one million dogs, and “the correlation to actual clinical disease is not supported in the vast majority of these breeds.” We appreciate Wisdom Panel’s rationale of limiting stress among dog owners-after all, someone could end up euthanizing a pet because of frightening genetic health results. When asked about the mismatch, Hughes said Wisdom Panel doesn’t report at-risk statuses for dogs with breed makeups that are not at risk for the disease, but she confirmed that Sutton had tested positive for the mutation. Wisdom Panel also screens for 211 genetic health conditions, and it lists the status of each disease as “at risk,” “notable” or “clear.” In 2019, our dog panelists had consistent results among the diseases that Wisdom Panel and Embark both tested for, with one exception: Embark reported that Sutton was “at risk” for dilated cardiomyopathy, while Wisdom Panel did not. She was also part of the original team at the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory that pioneered DNA-based ancestry tests for animals. She’s a leader in feline genetics and often consults on consumer cat genetic test kits. Lyons, PhD, the head of the Feline Genetics and Comparative Medicine Laboratory at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. Angela Hughes, a veterinary geneticist at Wisdom Health at the time, and Adam Boyko, PhD, co-founder and chief science officer of Embark Veterinary and an associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences. I also consulted experts at two leading dog DNA test companies: Dr. Jessica Hekman, a veterinarian and postdoctoral associate at the Karlsson Lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who specializes in the genomic behavior of dogs. I attended a webinar and discussed the validity of genetic testing with Dr. Brenda Bonnett, a veterinarian and the CEO of the International Partnership for Dogs, an organization dedicated to scientific collaboration in the canine research community and the standardization of genetic testing for dogs. In researching this guide, I spoke with Dr.
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