After decades of breeding, the complexity of
cat color genetics is quite well understood. Genes which control
pigmentation,
hair length,
color dilution,
banding (agouti),
white fur (dominant, spotting, or albino, sometimes linked with
deafness),
tabby patterns, and more combine to create a
wide spectrum of possibilities. Specific traits such as
white gloving among Birman cats and the amber color found only in Norwegian Forest Cats (which comes from a single female born in 1981!) have also been isolated and studied, and can be affordably
tested for.
On top of all that, fur color is
epigenetic as well as genetic, and sometimes responds to the cat's environment. If you clone a calico cat, you get a kitten which
doesn't have a similar coat due to
X-inactivation, and pointed cats (such as Burmese, Siamese, and Tonkinese) have
temperature-sensitive coloration.
[more inside]
posted by vorfeed
on Aug 28, 2011 -
90 comments
This is a game about breeding flowers. Each flower's traits are determined by its genes. Pick two flowers and their genes combine to create new variations. There is no aim in this game... Feel free to set yourself one. --
Rare Breeds: Petunia. (Flash.)
[more inside]
posted by Gator
on Jan 30, 2011 -
44 comments
Humans are evolving more rapidly than in the distant past,
according to a new study published in PNAS. "The massive growth of human populations has led to far more genetic mutations, and every mutation that is advantageous to people has a chance of being selected and driven toward fixation.
We are more different genetically from people living 5,000 years ago than they were different from Neanderthals", says lead author John Hawks.
[more inside]
posted by stbalbach
on Dec 10, 2007 -
136 comments
Not settled after all partial genetic explaination of eye color. it's not one classic dominant/recessive allele a la the monk Mendel. three known + unknown genes involved, everybody's still beautiful.
posted by longsleeves
on Dec 8, 2005 -
19 comments
Extinct is forever.
Or is it? Scientists are hard at work reconstructing entire genomes of our common ancestors. The present technology is a far cry from Jurassic Park, but we're getting there.
posted by mowglisambo
on Dec 8, 2004 -
9 comments
The Dawkins FAQ. Interesting Q&A session about evolution, biology, genes, etc with an
expert. Dawkins claims no final answer on the "gay gene" or a Darwinian explanation of homosexuality.
posted by skallas
on Nov 27, 2004 -
56 comments
In terms of our genes, we humans are all the same -- except
for the ways in which we're different. Pharmacogenomics has for years been touted as the ultimate benefit of the genomics revolution. But to many, this revolution has a troubling side.
posted by semmi
on Oct 13, 2004 -
6 comments
Gene Stories. "If your parents kept on having children, they’d have to visit the maternity hospital another million billion times to stand a chance of producing another child with your genes" (unless you're an identical twin of course).
posted by lola
on Sep 19, 2003 -
5 comments
Gene Prevents 'Brains Everywhere' The human version of the gene probably is not involved in keeping the human brain inside the skull, but likely plays some other role in nervous system development in human embryos, says Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado, a developmental biologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Cool.
posted by Grod
on Oct 11, 2002 -
6 comments
Need a user's manual for your DNA? Sure that there's some bug in there you could fix if you knew how to? Here are the tools you'll need. I know the web isn't relly about one-to-many publishing, but just sometimes it does it wonderfully well.
posted by alloneword
on Sep 16, 2002 -
3 comments
Turning on a single gene makes mouse brains grow huge, and fold in the skull similarly to human brains. Fancy discussing Derida over tea with a rodent? more inside...
posted by daver
on Jul 18, 2002 -
38 comments
Scientists are making DNA that uses letters other than AGCT
Underlying the chemicals is a code. DNA is composed of pairs of four types of proteins. This project at Scripps Research Institute is attempting to design a DNA which uses different proteins to convey genetic information. The ultimate goal would be to have a functioning organism with a genetic code that uses a different "alphabet" to "communicate" the same "message" You know what this means? If they can get it to work, language wins! The world will truly be proven to be a "discursive" formation. (The language metaphor comes courtesy of the
NYT, but I believe it is more than apt.)
posted by rschram
on Jul 23, 2001 -
16 comments
A rather interesting article on how scientists how found that people with the same surname usually share some common DNA. This could soon be used to track down the original founder of your last name.
posted by Mark
on Apr 5, 2000 -
3 comments
