All Questions
Tagged with inheritance or genetics
2,516 questions
101
votes
3
answers
17k
views
What's the evidence against SARS-CoV-2 being engineered by humans?
A couple of colleagues suggested in a discussion that the virus that causes COVID-19 appears to be made by humans, since nature could not have produced such an efficient virus — that spreads so fast ...
- 1,675
83
votes
3
answers
22k
views
Why 20 amino acids instead of 64?
This question got me thinking about amino acids and the ambiguity in the genetic code. With 4 nucleotides in RNA and 3 per codon, there are 64 codons. However, these 64 codons only code for 20 amino ...
- 5,751
54
votes
4
answers
10k
views
Why do men have nipples?
I'd be tempted to call nipples in men vestigial, but that suggests they have no modern function. They do have a function, of course, but only in women. So why do men (and all male mammals) have them?
- 2,525
35
votes
2
answers
16k
views
What is the advantage of circular DNA in bacteria?
From what I understand, bacteria have circular DNA. What advantages does it have over linear strands like for eukaryotes?
Do there exist bacteria with more than one ring of DNA?
- 2,808
34
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Why didn't Escobar's hippos introduced in a single event die out due to inbreeding
Today I read a BBC Report about how Pablo Escobar had once imported 4 hippos (1 male, 3 female) into his estate in Colombia for his private zoo. After his downfall, while other species were shipped ...
- 451
32
votes
6
answers
14k
views
Biological siblings possible with <9 months age difference?
I'm currently in the middle of writing a story, and one of the story elements threw up a question for me. In this story, there are two siblings, who are only one or two months apart in age. As they ...
user35717
32
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What makes a cancer contagious?
Most human cancers are not (very?) contagious (perhaps besides a couple of incidents). But the Tasmanian devil seems to have a form of cancer which is contagious. Now what makes the difference between ...
- 2,765
32
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Books on population or evolutionary genetics?
I have recently been involved in collaborations that require me to model the population genetics of eukaryotic populations. I fear I may either be "re-inventing the wheel" or making conceptual ...
- 3,597
32
votes
1
answer
5k
views
How could a species be engineered to go extinct?
Non-biology background here.
I read this very interesting article: https://www.wired.com/story/crispr-eradicate-invasive-species/
However I am having a hard time wrapping my head around something:
...
- 423
30
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Do trees age on a microscopic level?
Most animals age via at least two mechinisms:
at a "macroscopic" level, basically wear and tear to the point where (on evolutionary time scales) it's more genetically advantageous to optimize for ...
- 2,525
29
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Is it possible that by mutation a human could see infrared or other 'colours'?
Incoming light reacts with the several types of cone cells in the eye. In humans, there are three types of cones sensitive to three different spectra, resulting in trichromatic color vision. Each ...
- 2,765
29
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Does the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 end with 33 A's?
Looking at the DNA (or RNA?) sequence of the Covid-19 virus here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947.3
I notice it ends in 33 a's. Does the virus really look like that, or is it some ...
- 401
29
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Smallest viable reproducing population
What is the smallest viable reproducing population, such as in a human population. By viable I mean a population which keeps genetic defects low (enough).
A very strongly related question: what is ...
- 2,808
28
votes
5
answers
63k
views
How many people are required to maintain genetic diversity?
Imagine humans were to colonize a distant planet and it was a single one-way trip. How many people would they need to bring?
Obviously 2 is the minimum, but that would result in a lot of inbreeding.
...
- 501
26
votes
4
answers
33k
views
How many genes do we share with our mother?
Somewhere I have read we share more than 99% of our genes with every other other person and 98% of our genes with chimpanzees. What does this mean? Don't we share 50% of our genes with our mother and ...
- 503
26
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Why is a heritability coefficient not an index of how "genetic" something is?
On his blog, Eric Turkheimer writes:
[T]aken as a number, a unit of analysis, heritability coefficients are
funny things to aggregate on such a massive level. What exactly are
we supposed to ...
25
votes
6
answers
38k
views
Do apes and humans share 99% of DNA or 99% of genes? What is the difference?
I made an answer on the Scifi.SE that can be read here. It is about how the characters in the story Jurassic Park might have gotten DNA for all the species shown.
In my answer, I said this:
Apes ...
user3970
25
votes
2
answers
669
views
Can an adult without genetic lactase persistence still develop a tolerance for dairy foods?
While investigating the rise of adult lactose tolerance, I came across the news that China has been encouraging its citizens to drink more milk, even though most of the Asian population lacks the SNP (...
- 808
24
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How likely is a lack of DNA match with a distant relative?
How likely is a lack of DNA match with a distant relative?
I have recently gotten interested in ancestry research and have had a DNA analysis performed by a prominent commercial provider.
I've been ...
- 351
24
votes
3
answers
4k
views
If a small population left one continent and sailed to another, would the genes of the population that left show relation to the original population?
This question has a specific context, a religious one, and so I'm not sure this is the right place to ask, but I can't think of a better place. I would like as objective and unbiased an answer as ...
- 343
24
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How are the boundaries of a gene determined?
What statistical processes and methods are used by geneticists/molecular biologists to know where one gene starts and one ends?
- 445
23
votes
3
answers
2k
views
120-year-old gene regulation problem independently solved by a computer. How?
My Background:
I'm a mathematics graduate student with a physics background. I have a very little biology knowledge and a little knowledge of machine learning and statistics.
Topic:
I recently ...
- 335
22
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Could we detect GMO foods if there were no samples to compare with?
In my understanding, there’s nothing “special” in how a GMO product is composed inside compared to a “natural” product. I mean, still, same principles apply to both: some DNA that controls protein ...
- 321
22
votes
3
answers
50k
views
Does our DNA change during our lives?
As far as I know, DNA is the construction protocol of all organisms on Earth.
Does it change when influenced by time and environment (physical laws)?
As parents with schizophrenia are more likely to ...
- 535
22
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Do some genes follow Rock-Paper-Scissors model of dominance?
Assuming there are at least 3 alleles of the gene $G$ in total - $G_R$, $G_S$ and $G_P$ - is there any gene for which the following is true?
$G_R$ is more dominant than $G_S$.
$G_S$ is more dominant ...
- 1,571
21
votes
3
answers
17k
views
Why is DNA antiparallel? Can it be parallel?
My biology textbook mentions that DNA is antiparallel and it got me wondering - can DNA be parallel? What would happen if it was parallel? Could DNA still replicate correctly?
- 343
20
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Are mutations a source of genetic variation?
Here is a question from the book SAT II Success Biology E/M (where the SAT is the exam taken by the American high school students):
Which of the following statements is true about mutations?
(A) ...
- 297
20
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Why are some genes dominant over others? What is the mechanism behind it?
If I have a brown eye gene which encodes the protein that is responsible for the brown color and have a blue eye gene as well, what is the reason that my eye color is brown? How does one gene maintain ...
- 516
19
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Do all humans have an identical nucleotide sequence for certain proteins, e.g haemoglobin?
All humans have the same sort of proteins in our bodies. Take haemoglobin for example.
Is the gene coding for haemoglobin in my body identical to everyone else's gene or is there slight variations ...
- 317
19
votes
2
answers
62k
views
Why do we assume that the first humans were dark-skinned?
According to the article Dark skin and blue eyes: How Europeans once looked:
It is widely accepted that Man's oldest common forefather was dark
skinned, and that people became more pale as they ...
- 301
19
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What would cause red-haired people to become fewer?
There is this misconception that red-haired people are going to die out. This person on the Internet ("howstuffworks") also connected it to a marketing campaign of a hair dyer company. But I'...
- 382
19
votes
5
answers
21k
views
Origin, or source, of rhesus negative in human blood
This is my first post here, so please be gentle. I recently learned that I have Rh- blood (I'm A-), and was idly looking into blood types on Wikipedia. I was surprised to find that relatively few (~15%...
- 293
18
votes
2
answers
17k
views
Solving Hardy Weinberg problems
I really fail to understand Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and can't find an easy enough source of information.
Can you help me to understand Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
My goal is to be able to solve ...
- 351
18
votes
2
answers
17k
views
Genetic linkage greater than 50 centimorgans
Classically, the linkage between two loci can be measured in centimorgans (cM), which represents the percent chance that these two loci will recombine an odd number of times (generating a recombinant ...
- 4,540
18
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is the human biological clock genetically programmed or learnt?
Argument favouring learning:
A newborn sleeps for 20-22 hours. But overtime (s)he learns to focus sleeping time to night time, according to his or her needs and family needs. Some sleep from 1 am to 7 ...
- 283
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How many people's DNA were involved in the compilation of the reference human genome?
I know that the reference human genome is complied from DNA portions from different people, most of whom were European. Do you know how many of them were involved? Do you know which ones were involved?...
- 6,935
17
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Could Junk DNA be used as a Turing Machine by nature?
In what ways has DNA been studied to see if there a "programmable" aspect to it?
Has nature produced anything resembling a Turing machine within the cell, perhaps using the "junk DNA" as its code? I ...
- 2,808
17
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Mathematical Modelling of Natural Selection
I'm a math undergrad looking for some papers on modelling the process of natural selection. The only paper I've been able to find is by the pre-eminent mathematician Herbert Wilf from 2010,
There's ...
- 305
17
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Can two humans with 44 chromosomes produce viable offspring?
It is known that there are very few individuals having 44 chromosomes, not the usual 46 chromosomes.
One example is a male in China: the first article, the second article.
The other is a female in ...
- 561
17
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Do identical twins have the same fingerprint?
When there is every thing same from their genes to their phenotype so then why they don't have same fingerprints?
- 2,167
17
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is the smallest number of amino acids required for life?
Is there any hypothesis on the minimum number of amino acids required for life?
- 2,808
16
votes
5
answers
12k
views
Do men and women have the same number of genes?
As far as I know, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, each one which contains a particular amount of genes. But in the "last" pair, men have a XY pair chromosome, and women have a XX pair chromosome. ...
- 2,911
16
votes
4
answers
61k
views
Evolutionarily speaking, why do humans have 46 chromosomes
In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and Apes have 24 pairs (twenty-four pairs), for a total of 48.
What caused humans to have 46?
...
- 4,539
16
votes
2
answers
571
views
Why was it so hard to decode the corn genome?
My teachers growing up told me it was impossible to decode the maize genome. But yet its been done.
Why was decoding the genome so significant, and what made it so difficult?
- 4,539
16
votes
2
answers
7k
views
How is eye color in humans inherited?
In high school we studied the inheritance of eye color, as it was explained to us in the most simple way: blue eye color is a recessive, monogenic, autosomal trait. Now I know that it is a bit more ...
- 6,935
15
votes
6
answers
14k
views
Difference between genetic engineering and synthetic biology
I've recently seen the term synthetic biology being used to describe research involving genetic modification of organisms. What is the difference between synthetic biology and genetic engineering?
Is ...
- 153
15
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Are there differences in DNA between humans of today and humans from 2000 years ago?
Are there any significant differences in our genome compared to the genes of our ancestors from 1000-2000 years ago?
And if there are significant differences, do they result in significant ...
- 441
15
votes
2
answers
57k
views
Why do these 2 dots frequently occur in dogs' eyebrows? Does it serve/served any advantage?
I have been wondering why, in spite of the variation in color-patterning in dogs, these 2 dots (1 on each eyebrow) seems to be frequently occurring.
Dog-1:
This one has a white dot. Photographed from ...
user25568
15
votes
2
answers
696
views
Is the function of adjacent genes correlated?
Do genes that occupy a similar locus on the genome have correlated function, specifically in human beings? It is my understanding that adjacent genes are inherited together, and so location plays a ...
- 338
15
votes
1
answer
746
views
How do members of cryptic species know who to mate with?
According to Wikipedia:
In biology, a cryptic species complex is a group of species which
satisfy the biological definition of species—that is, they are
reproductively isolated from each other—...
- 2,111