Domesticated Silver Fox

Current project status
Following the demise of the Soviet Union, the project has run into serious financial problems. In 1996, there were 700 domesticated foxes, but, in 1998, without enough funds for food and salaries, the project scientists had to cut the number to 100. Most of the project expenses are covered by selling the foxes as pets, but the project remains in a difficult situation and is looking for new sources of revenue from outside sources.
On November 22, 2005, the journal Current Biology published an article about the genetic differences between the two fox populations. In this study, DNA microarrays were used to detect differential gene expression between domesticated foxes, non-domesticated farm-raised foxes and wild foxes; one set was raised at the same farm as the tame foxes, and the other set was wild. Forty genes were found to differ between the domesticated and non-domesticated farm-raised foxes, although about 2,700 genes differed between the wild foxes and either set of farm-raised foxes. The authors did not analyze the functional implications of the gene expression differences they observed.
On November 21, 2007, the journal Behavior Genetics published an article about continuing research using both the domesticated and non-domesticated foxes developed by the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In this paper, the authors identify a system of measuring fox behavior that is expected to be useful in QTL mapping to explore the genetic basis of tame and aggressive behavior in foxes.