HGG Community Forums

So, I just learned some more about sickle cell anemia in my uni biology class. Many know that the base of DNA is created with base pairs, like A-T and G-C. A strand of DNA looks something like this:
ATTCGCGA
TAAGCGCT
Each base is paired with its complementary partner. Sickle cell anemia is the result of a single base pair mutation. A single base pair. One T was substituted with an A, creating an entirely different amino acid that results in a blood disease that can kill people. (CTC-->CAC).

I find it astonishing!

Oh I've got a fun one, that does happen to be about horses!
While humans have 4 blood types (8 if you count the RhD markers), horses have approximately 400,000. This is because they have 7 (or 8, if you count T, which is still in research) known blood groups : A, C, D, K, P, Q, U; with each having at least two allelic factors. Considering all possible groups and factors, the ensuing near half-million blood types horses can have make it almost impossible to match with donors. Fortunately, horses don't usually produce antibodies against other types of red blood cells unless they've already been exposed to them. Breeding a stallion to a mare with a clashing blood type can sometimes cause issues though.
Just one more thing to add to the crazy biology of our equine companions!

I just learned a couple really cool things from the comment section. :3

So in the 1820’s there was a secluded family that people referred to as The Blue Fugates. They lived in the rural hills of Kentucky, away from everyone else. The two “founders” or couple that settled the area were both carriers of the recessive methemoglobinemia (met-H, which affects the red blood cells) gene. They had several children together- most, if not all, had blue smurf like skin thanks to met-H. Since they were so secluded and there weren’t many options, there may have been a couple instances where brothers and sisters would get together (or nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, didn’t really matter). The blue tinged skin carried on from generation to generation into the mid/early 20th century, when a nurse found out about them and did a study.

https://dnascience.plos.org/2016/09/22/finding-the-famous-painting-of-the-blue-people-of-

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/blue-skinned-people-kentucky-reveal-todays-genetic-lesson/story?id=15759819


Pictures:

Domestic rats have a ton of really fancy coat colors and patterns. There's a newer one from early 2000s called marten that i really enjoy. A black rat is born with dark skin and grows in black fur and has black eyes. Add the marten gene, and the rat is born with dark skin, grows in charcoal gray fur, has ruby eyes. The fur lightens as the rat ages to a silvery color and leaves darker hair near the tail, up the back, and over the face. Some rats will have dark masks on their faces that are very distinct and others just have subtly darker fur around their eyes.
Marten is recessive to agouti, codominant with siamese and himalayan (pointed), and dominant to albino.
https://www.afrma.org/ratunstdnonrec.htm#martenrat

There's a fur pattern called patchwork which causes the rat to grow hair in patches and lose and regrow hair, in different locations, about once a week. This is also a recessive gene.
https://www.evolutionrattery.com/evo-rattery-rattenings-blog/what-is-a-werewolf-rat

I was hoping a few more people would enter. I'll leave open till July 4. I'll posted the winners July 5. Hopefully a few more people will jump in!!!

I've been OBSESSED with the fox domestication project in Russia since I was in high school.

It is absolutely fascinating how quickly genes change/pop up. Folded ears, curled tails, patterns in the coats, colored eyes, wavy hair coats, white chest patches, tongues hanging out, additional vocalization, and so, so much more.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/mans-new-best-friend-a-forgotten-russian-experiment-in-fox-domestication/

I can't believe I didn't see this thread before now!

One of.my favorite genetics trivia facts has to do with calico cats. The Lyon hypothesis (proposed by Mary Lyon in 1961 in the journal, Nature) suggests there is a mechanism to inactivate an X chromosome. Otherwise, XX individuals would be producing twice as much gene product, which might be too much. The Lyon hypothesis is that the inactivated X chromosome, or Barr body, is random- it isn't necessarily linked to the X chromosome coming from the maternal or paternal parent. This is how calico cats came to exist, and also the reason why almost all calicos are female! The gene that impacts orange versus black coat colors in cats is located on the X chromosome. Most males only get one X chromosome, thus, they can be either black or orange. Inactivated X chromosomes, or Barr bodies, appear at random in early blastocyst development. As that cell cycles, the same X chromosome will remain inactivated. Each individual cell can have a different inactivated X chromosome! Mary Lyon's work showed that females are mosaics, in that they can have these different active genes on the X chromosomes of each cell.
The formula for Barr bodies is:
# of Barr bodies = # of X chromosomes -1

So male cats *can* be calico, but only if they have multiple X chromosomes, and thus, would be sterile. A similar condition in humans is Klinefelter Syndrome, where individuals are XXY. (Thus, having 1 Barr body).

Thanks for running a fun contest where we can all learn more about genetics, @MakeMeABird!

Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday. Here are the winner!!! Thank you all you participated. It was very enjoyable to learn some new things.
To the winner please pm and we will work out away to get you your prize!

1st SliverBorn
2nd Stormwood Farms
3rd RubyJoFarm

For those you didn't place. Please feel free to go though my barns for a few show ponys or straws or some eggs. I like everyone to get something for their efforts.

Thank you for this fun contest! I enjoyed reading the other posts and learning more. :)

My id is 50888.

Thank you so much for this contest!
My stable ID is 52949.