Okay, so at some point people had to have mated with their brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. My understanding of why inbreeding is bad at a genetic view today is because it increases the risks of expressing a genetic disease. Someone correct me if I am wrong here. If all genetic diseases were eliminated from the germline then genetically it wouldn't be bad because you wouldn't have to worry about expressing genetic diseases. Keep in mind I've been referring to inbreeding as genetically and not morally. I don't support inbreeding or all the redneck hicks that do and it is illegal for a reason.

 

Comments?

Much animal husbandry is based on inbreeding, and yes once the problems have been culled from the germ-line there are no inharent issues with the practice. But...as a consequence the gene pool is reduced in size and the organism is now vulnerable to any outside forces that it cannot adapt to. This has become an issue in cases where an endangered species has been reduced in numbers to the point were inbreeding is common. Any major changes in the environment spell the end.

Inbreeding as you stated, increases recessive gene expression in a confined gene pool, hence increased genetic disease; however more potently, inbreeding depression results due to lack of gene pool variation. It is becoming clear that inbreeding decreases DNA fidelity such that mutations in cell replication or development (ie embryonic development) can occur more frequently when a fetus results from two closely related individuals. This is why inbreed children are more frequently stillborn, or if the mutation allows life, born with extra appendages or poor limb development etc

I stand corrected

This will also go against the Hardy Weinberg LAW !!!

 

However , for your information !!

Inbreeding can ensure successful in some organism !!

 

a good example is Beta fishes

 

People who breed betas will know this .

They are encourage the breed True so that the pure line is maintain !

yea i thought there would still be problems with genetic diversity.

The beta fish are sort of pets in a controlled environment. Adaptation to a more dynamic environment may pose more problems. What is interesting about inbreeding among humans is the speed at which genetic regression appears to occur. One would almost expect genetic stabilization like the Beta fish. Maybe the opposite is true, in that genetic diversity is equally progression beyond simple genetic addition.

That's certainly the concern with inbreeding in terms of things like banana's. The fruit has been breed to 'perfection' so that there remains relatively little genetic variation between plants, so that if environmental pressures changes much, you can expect that very few of the plants will survive.

It's not inbreeding with bananas, since they don't breed as such. They propagate from suckers, so in essense they are all clones. There are many varieties, they are one of the older cultivated plants, but most commercial plants belong to one of a few of these.