Balto is the most famous dog in the United States, and for this animal that saved a remote town in the snow of Alaska by delivering medicines to it, a statue in Central Park in New York, and an animated film about his heroism, while a recent scientific study analyzed his DNA 90 years after his death, explaining the secret of the ability The great stamina he enjoyed.

The story of Balto dates back to 1925, when he was hired as part of a mission in Alaska called the "Serum Race", which aimed to save the inhabitants of a small town located in a very remote area, by delivering an anti-diphtheria drug to them.

Indeed, in the midst of snowstorms and freezing temperatures, Balto took a group of sled dogs that traveled the tens of kilometers that were left to reach the town.

Today, a stuffed animal that died in 1933 is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

"Balto's fame and being a taxidermist provided this important opportunity after a hundred years to study the genetic characteristics of this category of sled dogs, and to compare them with modern dogs," said Catherine Moon, the lead author of this study, published Thursday in the journal "Science." .

Scientists took skin samples from Balto's belly and reconstructed his entire genetic material (genome).

They compared this genetic material with the genomes of more than 680 modern dogs from 135 breeds.

Contrary to the myth that Balto was partly a wolf as suggested in the 1995 Universal Pictures animated film, the analysis did not show any wolf ancestors.

Baltos have common ancestors with the present-day Siberian Husky, and the sled dogs of Alaska and Greenland.

The scientists also compared Palto's genetic material with a common genome of 240 mammalian species prepared as part of an international collaboration called Project Zonomia.

This technique enables the identification of DNA fragments that are common to all species and that have therefore not changed over millions of years of evolution. This stability means that they are areas with important functions, and that any change in them could be dangerous.

It turns out that Palto had fewer risk differences than modern dog breeds, likely indicating better health.

"The variants in Balto's were in genes related to weight, coordination, joint formation and skin thickness, which makes sense for a dog designed to live in such an environment," Catherine explained.

Finally, the study sought to reconstruct his physical form based on his genome, in line with the available historical pictures of him and his preserved remains.

Balto has a shoulder height of 55 centimeters, and has black fur with a little white.

"This project gives everyone an idea of what is beginning to be possible through comparisons with genomes of increasing quality," emphasized Catherine Moon. "These are things we've never done before," she said. "I feel like an explorer, and once again Palto is blazing the trail."