/r/genetics

Photograph via //r/genetics

For discussion of genetics research, ethical and social issues arising from genetics and its applications, genetics career questions, etc.

Genetics, genes, and genomes

Frequently asked questions

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  1. Be nice - No trolling, personal attacks, hate speech, bullying, harassment, etc.

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  3. No low effort posts - Posts which are directly addressed by the FAQs in the wiki may be removed. Posts and comments should generate or contribute to a discussion.

  4. No pseudoscience or misinformation

  5. No medical questions - We are not equipped to provide medical advice. Please see the pinned readme thread for details on this rule.

  6. No homework or study help posts outside of the megathread - Please see the pinned megathread for guidelines.

  7. No posts containing just personal ancestry/genetic testing results - Posts for help with interpreting such results should contain a specific question and will be removed if covered by the FAQ.

  8. Directly link to research studies - Videos, press summaries, or news articles discussing a specific study must be accompanied by a link to the study in question.

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Helpful links
Please check out our wiki for FAQs and helpful resources in genetics.

/r/genetics

101,699 Subscribers

4

How do people get jobs in genetics ?

Hello everyone, I’m genuinely curious how people get jobs in genetics. I’m a 26yo female with a B.Sc and an ongoing M.Sc in genetics and Bioengineering, and I’m genuinely curious how people get paid working in genetics. Everywhere I look it seems most labs are looking for interns. Is there a branch of genetics that actually has JOBS.

Not internship or externship, but an actual job.

P.S I currently work as a science teacher now, but that’s not what I want to do with my life.

2 Comments
2024/03/13
08:14 UTC

3

Data breach at 23andMe affecting Ashkenazi Jews, Chinese clients sparks class action suit

0 Comments
2024/03/13
03:44 UTC

1

Is it possible for a homozygous dominant gene to express a trait more strongly than a heterozyogous dominant gene?

Hello,

I've been thinking about the concept of dominance and incomplete dominance when the following scenario came up to me:

Suppose there is a plant species where leaf size is determined by a single gene with two alleles:

L: The allele for large leaves

l: The allele for small leaves

In this hypothetical scenario, the genotypes and their corresponding phenotypes are:

LL: Homozygous dominant, produces extremely large leaves that are 50% larger than the heterozygous genotype

Ll: Heterozygous, produces large leaves (the typical "large leaf" phenotype

ll: Homozygous recessive, produces small leaves

I've looked online and I believe this could be called 'homozyougous dominance' or 'homozygous advantage' but I'm not sure. Is this a real thing? What is it called? Is this concept just an extension of incomplete dominance?

Thanks

1 Comment
2024/03/13
03:20 UTC

7

Can genetics this far back influence they way you look?

Im pretty white but my mom is really into ancestry stuff. I have some small percent of Native American in me but its so small I would think it wouldn’t matter. Its a good few generations back, I know my mom’s great grandmother who she met but I never did spoke some dead native language. Anyways so im pretty white right? But a few times I have gotten the comment that I look mixed. I have even once had somebody say something that if I was asian would be very racist I dont want to repeat it. Its not like all the time but these people usually thought I was part Asian or Latina which would kind of make sense for Native American ancenstry.

Im just wondering if its possible for ancestry that far back to affect how you look? Its not super noticeable but I can kind of see it in my face shape and nose etc.

P.S. im not gonna use this as some way to claim im Native American or something cultural appropriating etc.. I know thats beeen a controversy and I do consider myself white Im just curious yk

Apologies for bad grammar im on mobile

7 Comments
2024/03/12
18:45 UTC

3

Is the age at which we begin breeding and the age we stop growing/begin declining related?

I remember reading an article at some point saying that in our 20s to 30s humans will stop growing and actually begin declining. Most people I know typically have kids between their 20s and 30s.

It would also kind of make sense right?

Let's say we tracked two families for the next 100 generations. Family A always had Offspring in their 20s. Family B always had Offspring in their 40s. My theory is that The Offspring of family B will continue to mature/grow for longer because they would evolve to give birth in their 40s

Another way to think of it is if I had a laptop (parent) with a bunch of data on it (genetics) and then I took a hard drive and uploaded that data to said hard drive then unplug the hard drive(gave birth). Any more data I add to the laptop's not going to immediately be put on to the hard drive.

I think the way we'd prove this Theory is by cross referencing other species right? Or maybe even looking at the genetic makeup of our ancestors. I know I also heard somewhere that our ancestors were shorter than we are. Would it because their ancestors gave birth at a younger age?

*for the record, I don't think I'm the first person to think of this I just couldn't find anything online

*reworded example

5 Comments
2024/03/12
14:27 UTC

1

Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy Inheritence Question

Hi all,

I have a quick question regarding LHON.

My mother (45F) has LHON and has had this condition since she was roughly 30 or so. She had perfect eyes her entire life, until she developed shingles on her neck, which the doctors said that this caused the gene to activate and she has been legally blind ever since.

When I (20M) was younger and she developed this condition, the doctors also asked her if she wanted to have me tested to see if I had this gene laying dormant in me as well, to which she said no as she did not want me to have to live in fear of this gene activating suddenly.

My question is, based on my very bried knowledge of genetics and inheritence, do I have the gene for LHON? I understand that this is a mitochondrial disorder which is always passed down from the mother to the children.

Is my thinking wrong? Do I have this or is it possible that I do not carry this gene.

Apologies if this is written poorly, but any help would be much appreciated.

5 Comments
2024/03/12
11:43 UTC

0

How likely is mutation of TSC-2 AND IFT-140 (both 16p.13.3)?

In a case (human) with confirmed mutation of IFT-140 we see a phenotype somewhat consistent with mutation of TSC-2 mutation. Both genes are located on 16p.13.3 according to literarure. Would you say it is likely that both genes are affected, due to their proximity? On phenotype of IFT-140 mutation there is only few reports, so chances are the phenotype can be attributed to IFT-140 mutation alone. I am not really into genetics and I have no feeling for the likelyhood of mutations of multiple genes in relation to their proximity - it just sounds to me as they were located damn close and the phenotype kind of fits. Would you say it is more likely to have these two genes being mutated together or to have a case of so far unreported phenotypic characteristics in a not too well studied (~100 cases) mutation? I should add IFT140 is not a big deal healthwise, but TSC-2 porognosis is bad.

Thank you for hints!

1 Comment
2024/03/12
07:31 UTC

0

Are the Y-DNA haplogroups Q-M242 and C-M217 the only Y-DNA haplogroups that are indigenous to the Americas?

Before anyone says haplogroup R-M173, it is not indigenous (even though it is very common in Indigenous Americans) because it was most likely introduced post-1492 by Europeans.

0 Comments
2024/03/12
05:02 UTC

6

So sex-linked diseases are inherited, right? This may be a stupid question but how did they start?

They can't have just been around since the beginning of life. So some organism must have gotten the disease a long time ago but how?

16 Comments
2024/03/12
02:48 UTC

8

Paternity Test Resutls

First post in a very long time as I’m usually a lurker on Reddit. If I should post in another sub let me know as this sub was my first thought.

Basically long story short, my brother-in-law is the presumed father of a baby with his ex. He got two paternity tests done without her knowledge and both came back negative, 0% match. Now he is trying to get a legal one done and he’s worried it will come back positive. My question is: What are the odds two paternity tests with 2 different reputable labs with 2 different swabs at two different times are both false negatives?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated to help calm his nerves.

8 Comments
2024/03/11
21:38 UTC

1

Why Are Niger-Congo Peoples Modelled by Homo sapiens Coordinates More Accurately Than Others?

The results that are shown herein were generated via Vahaduo with these coordinates. As you can see, Niger-Congo peoples (West Africans & Bantus) are among the farthest from the Homo sapiens coordinates: Distances

However, they are modelled most accurately by the Homo sapiens coordinates when combined with archaic human coordinates: Ancestry Models

The smaller the distances that are next to each model, the more accurate the models are; and the models of the Niger-Congo samples have the smallest distances.

0 Comments
2024/03/11
20:51 UTC

4

Harnessing Nature's Engineering with Wyss Institute Founding Director Don Ingber

1 Comment
2024/03/11
17:25 UTC

1

Difference between CCDC13 gene & CHD13 gene?

Please dumb this down for me as I'm struggling to understand the difference (if any) between these two genes

Context: I'm researching the gene expression of ADHD and these genes are mentioned in various research papers.

2 Comments
2024/03/11
14:33 UTC

1

[G25] Is there really no ancient sample that can reduce balto-slavic drift ?

Yamnaya_RUS_Samara,0.1252054,0.0891408,0.0430338,0.1150967,-0.0285181,0.0453663,0.0046478,-0.002513,-0.0555623,-0.0727931,0.0006676,0.0005994,-0.0030724,-0.023564,0.0363427,0.0152183,-0.0007246,-0.0015204,-0.0039106,0.0140344,-0.0036879,0.000426,0.0109278,0.0184497,-0.0043241

TUR_Barcin_N,0.1175998,0.180118,0.0035312,-0.101158,0.0510443,-0.0483875,-0.0043582,-0.0069334,0.0362287,0.0807473,0.0079718,0.0118803,-0.0234545,0.0004691,-0.0419807,-0.0101913,0.0233091,0.0019866,0.0136954,-0.0097489,-0.0142249,0.0057723,-0.0041232,-0.0031658,-0.0043437

ITA_Villabruna,0.121791,0.114755,0.18592,0.184111,0.156337,0.060798,0.020211,0.035998,0.092445,0.018041,-0.016239,-0.016186,0.016947,-0.010046,0.054017,0.067356,0.000782,0.005448,-0.008422,0.053526,0.100073,0.010758,-0.048313,-0.163517,0.01928

Zagros_Neolithic_Farmers,0.0430252,0.0674312,-0.153488,0.0055556,-0.1239616,0.0243752,0.015464,0.000277,-0.081605,-0.05427,-0.0032476,-0.0016186,0.0053816,-0.0078446,0.0319486,0.056775,-0.0058154,0.007576,0.014405,-0.0327406,0.0076614,-0.0300476,-0.0109198,-0.0387768,0.0229438

To make this calculator have an even lower average distance for europeans countries ?

0 Comments
2024/03/11
13:37 UTC

0

Do children inherit a foundational capacity for intelligence, or can enhancements in cognitive abilities achieved through mental exercises and education be passed on to subsequent generations?

Hello, I don't know if this is the right place for my question but google is being entirely unhelpful and I need to find out if I am just not looking in the right places or if it truly is because so little is known about this subject.

I am curious as to how kids inherit intelligence from their parents. If I continue to learn, think, and generally get smart everyday would that have any effect at all on the intelligence of my future children. It's obviously very dependent on how they are raised but there is also a genetic component to it. I want to know how much of a role that genetic part plays and if it can be changed, are some kids just genetically predisposed to be stupid and some smart?

If this is the wrong place to ask this question or if the question is just dumb in general please kindly direct me where to go if it isn't much trouble or tell me the question is ridiculous. It was just a shower thought and I am very curious now. Thank you!

5 Comments
2024/03/11
05:17 UTC

0

Are nanolasers ever used in genetic engineering?

If nanolasers are used, how are they used in genetic engineering? Is it possible to use nanolasers to delete alleles or edit certain genes in the dna of fertilized eggs, unfertilized eggs or sperm cells?

3 Comments
2024/03/11
04:04 UTC

2

Autism

Hello, my (f) family is 99% sure my father has autism as all of my other siblings but me, have autism and he exhibits the same symptoms. Growing up with autism in the family has been one of the worst experiences I've had and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I grew up with a emotionally neglectful dad who never talked to me and made me feel worthless as a child. I'm just not his preferred activity as he'd rather be by himself then talk to any of his children. My siblings took up 90% of my parents attention and i became a third parent and had to grow up quickly to help raise them. Back to my question, I'm a female, thinking about having children in the future. I'm scared though, I know I cannot choose, but I do not want a child with autism. I would like to know what the chances are if I have a child with my partner who does not have autism. Am I a carrier, or does autism not work that way?

Tldr. My dad has autism and my siblings have autism, I (female), do not have autism, what's the possibility of me having a autistic child with my partner who does not have autism?

7 Comments
2024/03/11
03:52 UTC

0

Type 1 diabetes and LADA

Hi all!

My husband was diagnosed with Lada at age 42! I was curious if anyone knows if the genetic link for my children will be the same as if he had T1D?

1 Comment
2024/03/11
02:00 UTC

5

What does it mean for a global population to have 0% occurrence of an allele in their genotype?

7 Comments
2024/03/10
07:49 UTC

1

Is there a Neanderthal Genome project that might help identify human/Neanderthal sequence differences and how that might relate to evolutionary genetic events that produced modern humans?

Is anyone here knowledgeable on current research ongoing on reconstructed Neanderthal genome sequences that can be compared to modern human genomes to help reveal evolutionary genetic events that produced modern humans? This would be an exciting area for science to shed light on a mysterious chapter in human history.

2 Comments
2024/03/10
06:15 UTC

0

What are the name of these plots used in Genetics?

I am a new PhD student. I took some basic python and R courses before, but I cannot remember that I saw these graphs in those courses. It seems to me like a combination of several types of plots! I love to study these plots deeply by knowing their names.

I appreciate your help.

9 Comments
2024/03/10
05:24 UTC

0

Question on DNA recombination

https://preview.redd.it/hi75jgtonfnc1.jpg?width=1219&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2acff5d4663dbca6c1f6864b6106fc6ff537c8f6

Hi this is a dumb question on homologous DNA recombination. I am wondering if the exchanged dark blue and light blue regions contain the exact same genetic information (base pair)?

If so, how does this contribute to the genetic diversity as they express the same genetic information? (the only difference would be one from mom and the other from dad? )

Thanks in advance!

1 Comment
2024/03/10
04:21 UTC

3

What jobs can I get researching evolutionary genetics (or evolutionary mollecular and cellular biology, I'm open to either) without learning to code?

Title says it all. In one of my labs they're teaching us R and no matter how many times I've done it it's just impossible for me. I really want to study evolution from a genetic or cellular perspective but I hate coding. I understand that would make bioinformatics a huge no, but what opportunities will I really have? Also, what do you do in your wet vs dry labs? Is that just the difference between studying live cells and doing computations?

Thanks

31 Comments
2024/03/09
23:11 UTC

3

Help me resolve this dilemma about human populations

Hello all,

Recently I've been seeing a lot of back and forth arguments on social media when it comes to whether or not different human populations have different cognitive abilities and how much genetics plays a role. I am not here to argue whether or not it is the case that these abilities differ due to genetics-I am agnostic on that front and hope evidence comes out that it's not true. I mainly want to lay out my problems with the argument(s) that the differences *cannot* be genetic.

The line of reasoning usually goes something like this: Race isn't real from a biological standpoint, therefore cognitive abilities cannot differ between groups.

The first point is based on the following claims:

  1. Variation within groups accounts for 85% of variation while only 15% of genetic variation is found between groups.
  2. Humans are very closely related to each other and monotypic.
  3. Race is a social construct and ancestry does not correlate with so-called social race.
  4. Majority of human genetic variation is found within Africa.
  5. Not enough time has passed from when Eurasians left Africa to have resulted in any meaningful differences.

While 1,2,4, are correct, 3 and 5 are problematic. Let's address them:

3- A study published in a med journal shows that of 3,636 subjects of different ethnicity, only 5(0.14%) had ancestry that clustered differently from the group they self-identified as. People tend to bring up Latin America as though that's the norm but in reality, most people's ancestry broadly lines up with their self-identification. Additionally they point out that human regional populations are not clearly delineated by bleed into each other at certain geographic locations(like in the Mediterranean with regard to Europeans and West Asians). However, everything can be argued to be some kind of construct especially when continuum fallacy is used. We don't say that savannas are a false concept just because forests and grasslands exist and savannas fall in-between them.

5- It's known that 70,000 years have passed since the ancestors of modern Eurasians, Oceanians, and Amerindians left the African continent. That's 70,000 years living in wildly differing environments and very different societies. We can even see the physical diversity as a result of that separation.

1,2,4 are actually correct. The claims that we are closely related, most human genetic variation is within Africa, and that most variation is within as opposed to between groups is accurate. Indeed, there is no longer room for old ideas about race. HOWEVER, it is a huge mistake to deduce the second part of the original statement from the first. Just because we are all closely related does not mean there cannot be different gene frequencies for genes that code for important cognitive/mental traits in different populations.

To prove this point, we can see that people from different geographic regions, despite being genetically similar, have different physical traits. These can be written off as surface level but the brain, at the end of the day, is also a physical organ. We know that psychopaths have poorly functioning limbic systems. Smaller prefrontal cortexes are associated with poor decision making and executive function.

Of the total number of genes, only a small fraction are responsible for physical differences between human pops. So is it really out of the realm of possibility that a small fraction of our total genes could also be partly responsible for the average differences in cognitive ability between populations?

16 Comments
2024/03/09
20:38 UTC

0

What do I do?

As someone who is passionate about learning about genetics, trying to get INTO genetics seems like a difficult task. I am fairly certain I want to pursue genetics as a career but I have no idea where to start. As a junior in high school, my school provides no courses in genetics (besides Biology which I have already taken). Ideally, I would like to pursue this passion as much as possible but where do I start? What do I do? How do I show colleges (or most importantly myself) that I am passionate about this? Do keep in mind that my area provides no genetic/science related programs. Additionally, I also love math. Is there a possible career that combines my love for genetics and math?

I would appreciate any response!

10 Comments
2024/03/09
17:49 UTC

1

Why G25 calculators i make are not precise ?

For example, i read europeans are a mixe of ANE, WHG and EEF, so i take the 3 populations, calculate europeans admixture but i still get a 0.05 distance in average... Why ? How to be more precise ?

9 Comments
2024/03/09
17:10 UTC

0

Question

If I have a CBS +/- does this mean its slowed down or sped up? increased or decreased activity?

1 Comment
2024/03/09
11:47 UTC

3

Is the evidence for epigenetics strong?

17 Comments
2024/03/09
07:53 UTC

0

Polycythemia, Tetrachromacy… what are the known “good” mutations that exist in some humans today?

I’ve come across articles on both of these recently. I recognize there are Some horrible mutations. Has anyone compiled a list of the positive mutations?

15 Comments
2024/03/09
00:11 UTC

0

Reproduction With Chimeras

Say we have a XY/XY chimera being bred with a regular XX female. Where is the DNA in the chimera’s sperm coming from? Would his sperm contain genes from both his sets of chromosomes ; only one set of his chromosomes each time; or could they be from either sets at any time? This question is supposed to be about a male chimera cat. If you can be any more specific with that detail, please do. Those are only my guesses from what I know about basic biology and genetics. I would love to hear all that you have to say.

3 Comments
2024/03/08
16:55 UTC

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