Questions tagged [genetics]
The science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms.
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Correlation between MAO-A gene and murderers / sex offenders
The MAO-A gene, also known as the "Warrior gene", is thought to cause increased antisocial and violent behavior patterns in people who have experienced an abusive childhood. [ref] Caspi et. al. found ...
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Are all white cats with blue eyes deaf?
I was told that all pure white cats with both eyes being blue are completely deaf, and that all pure white cats with one blue eye are deaf on the side that has the blue eye.
If the cat has even a ...
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Can Tifton 85 grass produce cyanide gas?
Today I read something quite unexpected:
Preliminary tests revealed the Tifton 85 grass, which has been here for years, had suddenly started producing cyanide gas, poisoning the cattle.
[...]
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Are Ashkenazi Jews smarter?
I just received an email entitled "Why are Jews So Smart". You can read an article here.
I also found a similar article in New York Magazine.
Did Jewish intelligence evolve in tandem with Jewish ...
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Does inbreeding cause severe birth defects?
I've been doing some research on breeding rabbits and saw many people mentioning that if you inbreed rabbits (father-daughter/mother-son/sister-brother) that there is only a small chance of birth ...
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Is it possible to hatch dinosaurs from chicken eggs?
This article is one of many articles talking about re-enabling some dinosaur features in chicken.
I don't know a lot about genetics or paleontology. Most articles I've found about the subject use ...
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Are Adolf Hitler's DNA samples available?
A recent report published by LePoint claims that a Frenchman named Jean-Marie Loret is Hitler's son. The evidence in favor of this claim cited by the Huffington Post includes:
Hitler and Loret have ...
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Has natural occuring genetic insertion ever been observed in direct offspring of some organism?
Maybe this is somewhat of an ignorant question of me, and in all honesty I haven't tried very hard to find what I'm looking for1, but I keep hearing the argument that "information" can never be added ...
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Are red heads more likely to be hot headed?
It's a common cliche that red heads are more likely to have a fiery personality.
To quote from Wikipedia:
A common belief about redheads is that they have fiery tempers and
sharp tongues. In ...
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Is there any harm in forcing/re-educating a left-handed child to use their right hand?
Backstory:
Many of my relatives were subjected by their parents to a "training process" to "prevent" left-hand-dominance. This method started at a very young age and basically consisted of politely ...
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Is Lamarckian evolution still considered credible?
I had thought that Lamarckian evolution had been essentially dismissed in favour of Darwinian evolution. Lamarckian evolution as I understand it is essentially the idea that the traits an organism ...
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Is Y-chromosomal Adam younger than Mitochondrial Eve?
A Christian claimed to me that: the Y-chromosomal Adam is way younger than the Mitochondrial Eve.
Is this true?
He argued that this was consistent with the biblical account: that Noah is Y-...
user4951
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Can one's genetics account for x% of their weight?
I have seen statements like this in various places: "Such and such accounts for X percent of so and so". But it's not always clear what this means, how it is calculated or proven.
You will see this ...
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Is one in two hundred men a descendant of Genghis Khan?
I've read years ago that 8% of all Asian men and thus 0.5% of all men would be descendant of Genghis Khan.
Is there any truth to this? Or was this some trick to get their paper published?
Citation of ...
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Are girls and boys pre-programmed to behave... like girls and boys?
My dad claims that even as toddlers, my sister and I knew which toys to play with. For example, I would always pick up toy guns, Action Man, and other similar toys. She would always pick up Barbie. He ...
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Can one be naturally better at computers than English or Maths?
I think everybody heard this claim, and its opposite, a million times. Students or teachers commonly speak about having talents for a particular subject or another.
The subject is debated, for example,...
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Is reviving an extinct species possible?
With all the science of genetics, and genetic engineering, would reviving an extinct species possible?
Yes, akin the story of "Jurassic Park".
Would it be possible now, with the science we have today?...
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Is baldness inherited?
There are many articles on how baldness is inherited (mostly from the mother's side of the family).
In the BBC Life program, the narrator linked baldness to higher levels of testosterone.
Is ...
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How reliable is identification via DNA matching?
For example, how did they identify Osama bin Ladin? How can they identify with such confidence a DNA match?
How can you compare DNA against a sister and determine that it is indeed Osama bin Ladin?
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Is Genetically Modified food safe to consume?
What's the truth surrounding the popular idea that genetically modified food is dangerous to consume?
There's entire websites and institutions dedicated to popularizing the alleged dangers of eating ...
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Has increased computer use led to increased myopia?
According to ABC News and this Ophthalmological study there has been a significant increase in the number of people with myopic eyesight over a recent 30 year period. From the ABC article:
There ...
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Is IQ hereditary? If so, to what degree?
The movie Idiocracy suggests that intelligence is hereditary; this idea has also been perpetrated by German author Thilo Sarrazin, who claims that due to the higher fertility of Islamic immigrants and ...
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What risks exist with GMO, but not with selective breeding?
Anytime you hear Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) come up, someone always pipes in that it's perfectly safe because we've been doing it for thousands of years through selective breeding. ...
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