Genetics

Hello, I am someone who is adopted and I have no idea where I'm from because it's being kept a secret from me on purpose. I am a person who seems to be racially mixed, I have jet black, wavy hair and I don't have much facial hair. However in my beard I seem to have quite a few orange hairs, most of them are black however some of them are orange or red. Is this an indication of me being a recessive red hair carrier, or could it be the result of a mineral deficiency? Let's just say where I live there are no commercial genetic testing sites available that are that analytical, and the results could be skewed.

I read a bit about genetic engineering and came across 2 different kinds of it, the first type, Somatic gene therapy, happens after birth and is used to treat specific areas of the body by editing specific somatic cells genomes. the second type, Germline gene therapy, happens before birth and is done by modifying the genetic code of a germ cell so that the entire organism which sprouts from it will have a modified genetic makeup. and it raised a question in my mind. let's say you have a terrible inherited disease which is treatable by somatic gene therapy, so you pay a tremendous amount of money and go through a strenuous amount of procedures and check u…

Hello there! Im not sure if it is allowed to post such questions here but i just found this website and i wanted to give it a go because im way too curious about it , if im wrong i apologize! So i dont know much about genetics yet, but im very open minded about it. The situation is my father has dark brown hair and he had a wife back then and they made two children but they divorced. Both of the children have ginger hair. My mother has very dark brown hair and my sister has the very dark brown hair, i have a normal brown hair. My question is, am i a carrier of the ginger hair gene? Since my father has two children with ginger hair from an other relationship, then …

Hello, I would have a few questions regarding mankind's current knowledge of Genetics, as of 2014. 1. It was my understanding that we humans were defined by up to 35,000 different genes. Correct ? 2. Among these 35,000 different genes, how many do we know well enough to tell what impact they have on the body and proteins? 3. I heard it was possible to copy any human's DNA, and as a result, any human's full genome. How do we do that? How long does it take? It was also my understanding that we needed a "living" cell of the subject to do that, so it is not possible with bones, hair and whatnot. Is this still correct nowadays ? 4. For any human, a few of t…

Hello I've been thinking about human population genetics, or more precisely, what's the minimum human population that can continue on growing without extinction? There are several human groups descended from a very small founding groups. 1. The Amish - all Amish living to day are descended from a small group of about 200 Swiss and South German founders who migrated to the US in XVIII century. Despite having to cope with high infant mortality and several nasty genetic disorders, they managed to grow to 200,000 through breeding alone - the total number of converts to their religion is estimated at about 100 and has probably never been even as large as it's now. …

I was wondering about the different ways in which mosaicism in furred mammals could be displayed in the phenotype, for example how would you see it on the coat colour/type? I have read that it is very transient in nature (compared to Chimeras) but - say we are talking about different colour fur displaying - does it appear in only one place; can it recur in the same place after having disappeared the first time; can it recur in a different place entirely, etc? I have been searching online but most sites describe the process of it rather than how it is 'seen'. I think I understand how it happens and what it is now - but I am looking for information and examples of …

Dear all, I am currently using the Pubmed SNP database for my literature review. However, I got very confuse with information presented to me. Each SNP has their own unique rs number, but how come when I keyed in an rs number, there are so many HGVS names for it? and they are all so different. For example rs4680 for COMT gene. there are 14 HGVS names NC_000022.11:g.19963748G>A NG_011526.1:g.27009G>A NM_000754.3:c.472G>A NM_001135161.1:c.472G>A NM_001135162.1:c.472G>A NM_007310.2:c.322G>A NP_000745.1:p.Val158Met NP_001128633.1:p.Val158Met NP_001128634.1:p.Val158Met NP_009294.1:p.Val108Met Would be glad if someone can enlighten me.…

Hi guys!Long time forum reader,first-time poster.I got a question:how can an individual increase pheomelanin levels?Simply put,if your prof asks you this:''Tell me,if I want to increase my pheomelanin levels in the body,what should I do?''.Simple,straightforward question.I know that there may be a few drugs that can do this,also hormones may affect this.It is VERY important for me.Thanks in advance for the responses. With respect, sarcasticlad

I am kind of alien to genetics, but here is a rather strange or crazy question I have. I know that genetic recombination occurs during sexual reproduction. Is there a non zero probability (however low that might be - say even 10^(-100) ) that such recombination can result in off-springs with phenotypes to characterize it as a new species altogether? Is that possible in many generations if not one ?

Cytogenetic and Molecular Characterization of Hematological Neoplasm in an Ecuadorian Population Cancer is one of the major causes of mortality in Ecuador and annually, hematological malignancies are within the top ten most common cancers. In this multicentric study, we analyzed a series of patients diagnosed with different hemato-logical disorders between the years 1984 and 2012. Read more: Advertising links removed by Moderator

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Dear all, I have a question about the use of mutant backgrounds in Arabidopsis. Just to confirm my thoughts. Mutant backgrounds are used to search for even more aberrant phenotypes. New i wondered, if you insert an extra mutation by for instance EMS mutagenesis in a certain mutant background, and you self your plants (because you want your newly inserted mutation to become homozygous), does your original mutated background remain homozygous? I thought it did, but i started to doubt.. Thx in advance!

hi excuse me what is a sticky gene ? my teacher tell me it isnt a sticky end or a transposon i search on some genetics books but i cant find anything normally they talk about sticky ends and transposons so i dont know the same on internet please help me

Hello everyone, I'm new here so I apologize if this was already posted... also for the long post and for any mistake in the writing (english is not my first language) So I have a pedigree (see attachment) and I know it is X linked recessive but I'm not sure if my explanation is adequate so please correct me if I'm wrong or if my explanation doesn't make sense. Also if you want to add something I will appreciate it. If you don't want to read my explanation and just want to give me yours proceed to *** those are the two questions I'm trying to explain. I know it is recessive because this mutation manifests in one parental and in some individuals in the third and four…

I have recently read about a method for detection of blue and brown colour in Europeans using DNA samples. Apparently the iris colour (eye colour) has different forms of the same gene called alleles. There seem to be a number of alleles for brown or blue iris colour which differ apparently by a single base on the DNA (called Single Nucleotide Polymorphism IIRC). However the technique is not explained in the abstract well and I want to understand it better, Can someone with a better knowledge help me understand it? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20457092

Hello science lovers, I have a question regarding toxin-antitoxin systems; why do the cells that don't inherit the plasmid containing genes encoding for poison and antidote die? If they don't inherit that plasmid, they will not have genes that encode for neither the poison nor the antidote, but why do they die if they can't produce poison that would eventually kill them? Thank you!

I already know a little bit, but I need confirmation before a intense random fun research. (Not for school, free time). Here's a demonstration of what I think I know. (B= My parent's eye color, the dominant Brown eyes. b= my eye color, the recessive Blue.) If my mom has BB and my dad has Bb, that would be impossible for a child w/ blue. Mom= Bb and Dad= bb, That would be 75 percent? Mom= Bb and Dad= Bb, that would be 25 percent? Mom= bb and Dad= bb, that would be 100? Mom= BB, Dad BB, that would be 0?

Hi All, I am afraid I am not a geneticist, or even educated in genetics. My question is basic about the percentage of genetic traits being passed on to next generation. An ancestor was 1/16th American Indian, remainder of genetic mack up was Caucasian. He married a 100% Caucasian woman and had five (5) children between 1908 & 1920. Of the 5 children, 2 children displayed American Indian traits, which includes darker skin color, black hair and high cheekbones. Appearance of 1/2 Cherokee Indian. It would seem to me that the high cheekbones and black hair could be normal, but not the darker Indian like skin color. Question: Can someone possibly give me th…

Here are the genotypes and corresponding eye colors and numbers in 100 of those: Black(PPQQ): 7 Dark brown(PPQq): 15 Brown(PpQq): 30 Brownish green(PpQQ): 15 Purple(PPqq): 7 Gray(more like a blue-gray)(Ppqq): 9 Green(ppQQ): 1 Dark blue(ppQq): 11 Light blue(ppqq): 5 I try to do punnet squares for them and as it is 2 genes I can do a dihybrid cross. I notice though when I do the dihybrid cross it seems like I have 4 copies of 1 punnet square. Do I really need to do a Dihybrid cross for this or can I just do a monohybrid cross, that is for all possible combinations which is 9!(This is 9 factorial)? If I can just do a monohybrid cross that would be awesome but when I get to …

I am a fiction author currently writing my third book in a series about a boy who can control his autonomic nervous system. Although realize this is a fantastic concept, I've tried to root the idea in as much "real" science as possible. My current plot line has the boy experimenting with genetic engineering to cure a genetic disease. Since he has control over his entire body and its processes, he injects naked DNA into his cells and is able to get the DNA to integrate without using retroviruses or other methods. Problem is, he accidentally injects the wrong DNA, that of a female. My question is, how would this new DNA express itself? Would his eye color or body c…

I haven't been catching up on my science reading in a while. Does anyone have any recommended reading on genetics?

Hi, I come across this question from an online website but I dont understand how to get the answer Here is the question, you isolate a mutant strain of yeast that cannot grow on medium lacking leucine. This strain contains a single mutation you call leu1–. The leu1– mutation is near to drk1– on the same chromosome. When the leu1– mutant is mated to wild-type yeast, the resulting diploids cannot grow on medium lacking leucine. The “dark tan” phenotype of the haploid cells you are working with is caused by two different mutations in the same strain. The two mutations are designated drk1– and drk2–. Mating of the drk1– drk2– double mutant to wild-type yeast produce…

Hi all I am a complete novice when it comes to genetics, so I apologies for the newbie question in advance. My question is: If a person had white blood cells that killed off cancer cells, could that gene be replicated and used to treat other people with cancer? Or, could you only insert that gene into an embryo to make a new born baby immune to cancer? Sorry if that doesn't make sense but any reply would be helpful. Thanks

Dr. Lohse has found a subtle genetic method for confirming the difference between the first and second scenarios above. This method has positively ruled out the second scenario. It is certain now that Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis and Homo Sapiens Sapiens interbred on occasion, and modern humans of all so-called "races" have inherited genes from these occasions. The press release is here; I look to the geneticists among us to check out the scholarly paper (linked in the press release) and tell us all what we're looking at in terms of the details of the new method.

I was recently reading about the mechanism of gene targeting using single-stranded oligonucleotides. I am familiar with the targeting using TALENs, ZFNs, CRISPR, etc, but my issue is with understanding the mechanism. With the latter targeting technologies, they bind to a particular locus, induce a break and then with a donor plasmid, one can promote repair. However, how does a single stranded oligo induce targeting? Is a particular enzyme or something to that effect added when transfection occurs?