Leicester University scientists and the Animal Health Trust are leading an international project aimed at sniffing out genes that cause inherited diseases in dogs. The Canine Genome Project should help scientists prevent diseases such as retina degeneration, which can lead to blindness. Project leader Jeff Sampson, of Leicester's department of biochemistry, said scientists will work to single out those genes that carry disease in dogs. When they have been identified, the faulty genes could be bred out of animals.