每日英語跟讀 Ep.K370: Study finds personality for a dog is not a matter of breed
People usually have stereotypes about different breeds of dogs: Rottweilers and pit bulls are aggressive, while Labradors and golden retrievers are extra friendly.
人們通常對不同品種的狗有刻板印象：羅威納犬和鬥牛犬具有攻擊性，而拉布拉多犬和金毛獵犬則更加友好。
However, a genetic study published recently in the journal Science involving more than 2,000 dogs and paired with 200,000 survey answers from owners demonstrates that the widespread assumptions are mostly unfounded.
然而，最近發表在《科學》雜誌上的一項基因研究涉及 2,000 多隻狗，並與飼主的 200,000 份調查回答配對，表明普遍的假設大多是沒有根據的。
Undeniably, many behavioral traits can be inherited, but the modern concept of breed offers only partial predictive value for most types of behavior, and has nothing to do with how affectionate or quick-tempered a dog can be.
不可否認，許多行為特徵可以遺傳，但現代的品種概念僅對大多數類型的行為提供部分預測價值，與狗的深情或脾氣暴躁無關。
“While genetics plays a role in the personality of any individual dog, a specific dog breed is not a good predictor of those traits,” said Elinor Karlsson, director of the Vertebrate Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
麻省理工學院和哈佛大學布羅德研究所脊椎動物基因組學組主任埃莉諾·卡爾森說：“雖然遺傳學在任何一隻狗的個性中都發揮著作用，但特定的狗品種並不能很好地預測這些特徵。”
The team sequenced the DNA of 2,155 purebred and mixed-breed dogs to search for common genetic variations that could predict behavior, and combined this information with surveys from 18,385 pet-owner surveys from Darwin’s Ark, an open-source database of owner-reported canine traits and behaviors.
該團隊對 2,155 只純種和混種狗的 DNA 進行了測序，以尋找可以預測行為的常見遺傳變異，並將這些信息與來自達爾文方舟的 18,385 名寵物主人調查的調查相結合，達爾文方舟是主人報告的犬類的開源數據庫特徵和行為。
Overall, breed explained just 9 percent of variation in behavior, with age a better predictor of some traits. Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2022/05/09/2003777906
總體而言，品種僅解釋了 9% 的行為變異，而年齡是某些特徵的更好預測指標。