Legendary Husky Balto Has Genome Sequenced

Balto was a world famous Siberian husky, the lead sled dog in a 1925 mission that delivered life-saving medicine to Nome, Alaska in abominably frigid conditions. Now scientists have analyzed Balto’s DNA to find out what made him so tough.

The short answer: Balto was more genetically diverse than modern breeds. He and his team “may have carried variants that helped them survive the harsh conditions of 1920s Alaska,” according to a new study that appears in the journal Science. The “variants” account for Balto’s relatively short stature and his ability to digest starches, which likely helped him thrive.

How did they get a DNA sample from a dog who’s been dead for 90 years? Easy, they just snipped a few hairs from Balto’s belly, easily accessible because Balto is a taxidermied exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Balto’s journey to his final resting place begins with his great feat. In January 1925, he was the lead dog on the “Serum Run” that delivered diphtheria medication to Nome in the middle of a blizzard.

After Nome was saved, Balto and his team toured the lower 48 on a publicity tour, but ended up in a cheap Los Angeles “museum” in squalid conditions. A sympathetic Ohio businessman bought Balto and the other dogs and delivered them to Cleveland’s Brookside Zoo, where they lived out their lives in peaceful retirement. Balto’s mortal remains would end up in the Natural History Museum.

Balto is also remembered elsewhere – in Central Park, for one, where his statue is a popular tourist stop, just north of the zoo. And he’s featured in a trilogy of animated feature films beginning in 1995 (but in these the hero dog is purported to descend from Arctic wolves, a legend that the DNA analysis dispels).

Recently we learned in an unctuous NYT feature that convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes named her Siberian husky after him. Her Balto reportedly pooped with impunity in Holmes’ make believe Theranos offices before he was abducted by a mountain lion. Holmes claimed she searched for the beats in the brambles and poison oak of San Mateo for 16 hours. (San Mateo County never confirmed her story.) Holmes won’t get a replacement dog anytime soon, as she is about to begin serving an 11-year stint in a minimum security prison in Texas.

Although Balto had extraordinary genes, his great bloodline ends with him. The heroic husky was neutered when he was just a 6-month-old pup.