UncannyGarlic said:
Breeding and genetics are seperate things and the problems that are in dogs are there because people breed for aesthetics and not for good genetics.
One can argue that breeding and genetics are actually quite similar. Older breeds of dogs were breed to have specific traits, which is done through picking and choosing dogs with desired qualities, qualities that are there because of their genes. In fact, the whole domestication of the dog is because of wolves that had certain genes that made them more willing to approach and interact with humans. And from then on it was all about picking and choosing the wolves that had good traits and genes to perform specific tasks. Breeding relies on the science of genetics, and although the oldest breeders of dogs had no idea that such a thing as DNA even existed, they were still essentially picking out desired genes from the dogs/wolves. Plus, that lack of knowledge led to the undesirable traits that showed up in the genotype in the first place.
Now, bad breeding and bad genetics are related to each other. Take the German Shepherd, when first produced and recognized as a separate breed, it was quite hardy and healthy, and was not a large dog, but a medium size dog, much like his wolf ancestors. The fact that it is prone to hip dysplasia, like most other large breeds, is due to bad breeding and also due in part to bad genetics. The reason large breeds are prone to that ailment is because people breed them to be, well, large. They were originally produced a certain size, but at sometime someone decided they should be larger, yet they still retain their basic original design. So the large body gene is a stress to a bone structure that was never meant to support such a mass. But bad breeding is just breeding two parents with bad genes (in this case, a gene that causes hip dysplasia). Now with the dalmatian, it being prone to deafness is unavoidable. In order for people to be able to see the dalmatian, they breed it with a white coat and black spots (because they were carriage dogs). With the white coat came a genetic inherent deafness (not all dalmatians are deaf though). But with cats, a cat that has a white coat and blues are deaf (in humans, it is called Waardenburg syndrome). All due to genetics. The whole fact that some dogs are better guarders than others, better herders, better retrievers, desire to go into tunnels more than others, are more vocal, etc., is all due to genetics.
And yes, newer breeds, like the designer dogs, lap dogs (although some lap dogs are quite old), are breed purely for aesthetic purposes, but most breeds are breed to perform specific jobs. But yeah, if such a technology shall arise like genetic engineering for the purpose of designing a human, I'm sure most of it will be to eliminate genetic problems, but there will be those who would want their kid to look a certain way. And who is to say that the elimination of genetic problems or undesirable traits won't lead to more or different problems down the line? That's why there need to much more research, and studying dogs/wolves is a great way to go about it (not to say there are other ways though). I mean, look at the entire fact that all these varying breeds of dog, that look so different from one another, all came from one animal, the wolf. It's a good angle for genetic study and also evolution studies (which I believe scientist already study dogs for these purposes).
Now, so we are on topic, the whole sperm thing is great news for the scientific community. While yes, this could be used as research for infertility, and I suppose down the line it could be used for lesbian couples to have biological children, there is much more to this. The fact that scientists have created sperm cells also leads the way to the creation of other types of cells, and the fact that these scientists believe that eventually they can be created from human skin cells is also hopeful. If it gets to the point where skin cells, not stem cells, can be used to create different cells, it could possibly eliminate some of the controversy around stem cell research, in the sense that patient's skin cells are used and not embryonic stem cells. But, there will also still be the debate of scientific, ethical, and legal issues. So who knows what the future may hold for this kind of research, it's sure going to be a rough and difficult road these scientists embark on though.
i think curing cancer or aids is much more important...and i think theres a cure for that already but well its not profitable for them to release it...
Yeah, wolf/dog domestication is still based on theories, but the most rational theory, in my opinion, is that certain wolves chose to be around people because they saw it as a survival advantage, and it took off from there. 
), which is you change the genes of an organism, you're going to get unexpected, undesired results. Dalmatian's white coat = highly prone to deafness. White cat + blue eyes = deaf.
