Interestingly, many of these are traits that Darwin noted in the Origin of Species as being common among most domesticated animals. Now in the 50th year, the research is ongoing. The project’s long term goals are not just to understand the process of domestication, but to identify the genes that influence tame and aggressive behaviors. The team also hopes that defining the genes important to friendly, outgoing and social behaviors in foxes, might someday lead to genetic discoveries that may help treat or prevent autism and other human neurological disorders in which social reciprocity is impaired.