The project is part of Morris Animal Foundation's Canine Cancer Campaign, a worldwide effort to prevent, treat and ultimately cure the disease in dogs. The study will be led by researchers from the University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Uppsala University in Sweden.

Researchers will investigate mutations involved in the two most common cancers affecting Golden Retrievers: hemangiosarcoma and lymphoma. According to the Morris Animal Foundation, the study could benefit humans too, since genes involved in cancer are sometimes the same in both species.