genetics and me

maa32 · 09 Jan 2002, 05:33 · from whorl-v0013.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: genetics and me
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2002 22:33:07 -0700
Message-ID: <whorl-v0013-whorl.v012.n185.5 at digest.urth.net>
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And, in case my vast knowledge of genetics surprised any of you, I really d=
o=20
have an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Notre Dame ...=20
Unfortunately, I got tired of lab work and no longer do anything related to=20
science. =20
A bottleneck effect occurs when a population is stuck in a small area and=20
their is no new genetic material that comes in, increasing the frequency of=20
some mutations since recessives eventually meet.  The post-flood Urth would=20
have experienced just such a limiting of available creatures and land mass,=20
leaving only a little room for variation in the creatures.  In a small=20
population like that, mutations can occur at a highly accelerated rate,=20
possibly evolving into a species that can no longer breed with the original=
 in=20
a comparitively small number of generations. =20
Interestingly enough, when you hybridize two plants, you often get a doubli=
ng=20
of chromosomes (but not always a doubling of expression, of course)
A genome that contains three or more full copies of the haploid chromosome=20
number are polyploid. As a general rule polyploids can be tolerated in plan=
ts,=20
but are rarely found in animals. One reason is that the sex balance is     =
   =20
important in animals and variation from the diploid number results in=20
sterility. Those few animals, such as brine shrimp,that avoid the hazards o=
f=20
polyploidy, utilize parthenogenesis, the development of the an individual f=
rom=20
an egg without fertilization, to initiate embryo development. In light of=20
this, let's go back and examine in chapter 17 (or was it 19?) in Return to =
the=20
Whorl in which the mating habits of the inhumu are discussed at such great=20
length as if they were important.  Maybe they are.  I think Gene knows all=20
this stuff.  He is the master.  The life of Blue has been mutated from plan=
ts,=20
and the genetics of plants account for the doubling of limbs.  Alleluia.  I=20
have done it.

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