Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

lostinrates

Zag, there are also brindle horses. I have only seen them online and in not very scientific papers on colour genetics. They usually look a bit like dogs too...and I cannot recall any of what the Code looked like. I just remember thinking...!!!!!!, I will never, ever under stand this.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=brindle+horse&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=09b6Ub7gBoOm0AXtyYHwDA&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=672

Edit...in fairness, while there might not be a conformation model there, there are damn sight better examples than I remember seeing before.

PasturesNew

I just thought there were black horses, brown horses, grey horses and white horses .... and fast ones bred for racing. Then there are cart-horses that are big-built and ponies that are small.

michaels

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Re genetics I have:

R/G colourblind
Can't roll my tongue
No earlobes to speak of
Stupid grey hair

Can you get clever grey hair too?

lostinrates wrote: »

N'ah, my dad did Latin at his state grammar school. He most certainly was not middle class, he was just bright. He certainly didn't have a name like rupurt.

We did a little at Swanmore Secondary.

zagubov wrote: »

A single cystic fibrosis gene protects against cholera and fatal diarrhoeas.

DW and 2 of 3 DKs have Sickle Cell trait - I think trait gives some protection against malaria? - full blown sickle cell is not pleasant.

zagubov

michaels wrote: »

Can you get clever grey hair too?

DW and 2 of 3 DKs have Sickle Cell trait - I think trait gives some protection against malaria - full blown sickle cell is not pleasant.

I gather everybody in Cyprus is tested for a similar condition, thalassaemia. How do people get to know they're carriers of sickle cell in the UK, if that's not too nosey a question?
.

michaels

Heel prick test for newborns, plus they tested me when DW was pregnant, I think because of her race rather than just because she knew she had the trait. Whilst in general it has no impact apparently it is relevant for things like general anesthetic. All races are worth testing apparently as even the most 'English looking' of people might have the trait, especially if they have some south European ancestry.

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

I just thought there were black horses, brown horses, grey horses and white horses .... and fast ones bred for racing. Then there are cart-horses that are big-built and ponies that are small.

Some of them can even be used as guide horses for the blind!:)

Speaking of grey hair, age where hair goes grey is partly genetic. White europeans go grey betwen 5-10 years earlier than people with african or asian ancestors.

There's also a stress element. Look at Obama and Blair

neverdespairgirl

zagubov wrote: »

Some of them can even be used as guide horses for the blind!:)

Speakling of grey hair, age where hair goes grey is partly genetic. White europeans go grey betwen 5-10 years earlier than people with african or asian ancestors.

There's also a stress element. Look at Obama and Blair

Some people don't go grey at all, though? Or not noticeably so, anyway.

zagubov

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Some people don't go grey at all, though? Or not noticeably so, anyway.

That's pretty rare in Europe, less so in Asia and Africa.
As people are getting older the hair dye industry's looking like a strong investment!;)

The greying of hair has health implications - different eyebrow and scalp hair greying rates can be a warning of high diabetes risk

A bit slow- just worked out why Michaels's description got filtered.:rotfl:

LydiaJ

zagubov wrote: »

A single cystic fibrosis gene protects against cholera and fatal diarrhoeas.

Thank you! I remember asking ages ago if there was some advantage to a single CF gene to explain why it has persisted for so long, but at the time I wasn't able to find out.

michaels wrote: »

DW and 2 of 3 DKs have Sickle Cell trait - I think trait gives some protection against malaria? - full blown sickle cell is not pleasant.

I think my SIL has sickle cell trait too. My brother doesn't, but I don't know about my nephews. I imagine they know - my SIL is the sort of person who'd make sure that sort of thing was followed up.

zagubov wrote: »

A bit slow- just worked out why Michaels's description got filtered.:rotfl:

I can't see anywhere where anything's got filtered. Has he edited it since?

zagubov

LydiaJ wrote: »

Thank you! I remember asking ages ago if there was some advantage to a single CF gene to explain why it has persisted for so long, but at the time I wasn't able to find out.



I think my SIL has sickle cell trait too. My brother doesn't, but I don't know about my nephews. I imagine they know - my SIL is the sort of person who'd make sure that sort of thing was followed up.



I can't see anywhere where anything's got filtered. Has he edited it since?

Yes, he got censored about the heel-pr1ck test. I guessed what happened, at precisely the same moment he noted that it had, and changed it just as I cross-posted.

Lots (probably most familiar examples) of disease genes provide an advantage, otherwise they'd get weeded out of the gene pool. The human genome's one of the most desirable bits of real estate and genes have to put in good bids to get to occupy it.

The biggest three global killers from 100 years ago were smallpox, malaria and Tb and they're the reason many groups carry genes we call blood type B, sickle cell and tay-sachs.

I got interested in genetics as a Biotechnology post-grad and now think of it as one of the most interesting branches of Biology.