Questions tagged [genetics]
For questions about a way to pass on biological information from one generation to the next.
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What genetic modifications would be beneficial for post apocalyptic warriors?
During a nuclear total war between to superpowers, a military unit deserted and formed the gang which they called "Cobras".
There is a gang of malcontents and misfit mauraders who collectively call ...
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What Would Be Needed To Produce Human Hermaphrodites?
What kind of mutations would be necessary to cause humans to start producing fertile hermaphrodites?
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Methods to Implant Serial Numbers in/on Clones
I am writing a science fiction story with mass produced clones. Since I have a number of clone I need to tell them apart. The ID system must be:
Permanent over the lifetime of the clone (call it 150 ...
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In a species of simultaneous hermaphrodites, would there be any meaningful difference between siblings of the same parents in opposite roles?
Inspired by this question: Sexual reproduction without biological sex
And, to a lesser extent, this question: Would a society of simultaneous hermaphrodites have gender roles?
I'm not particularly ...
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Is it possible to breed genetically perfect humans [closed]
Is it possible to breed humans to create a group with no mental or physical deformities. And get to the point where this group of humans is also biologically more resistant to mutations that might ...
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Perceiving color like a native
Assumptions
One habitable world in each system (blue sun system and yellow sun system).
The two worlds are fundamentally Earth-like.
The native humanoid species on each world are genetically ...
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Could you breed a hominid to have an identifying crest?
This question is related to the world from my prior questions, in which several types of intelligent hominids evolved in isolation, until they were rediscovered, conquered, and bred into a biological ...
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Could your grandchild be genetically identical to you?
Plain and simple: could your offspring's offspring be genetically identical to you? What conditions would this be possible under, if any?
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A friend has an idea for a PA colony traveling to Proxima Centauri B but need help fleshing it out
So, my friend had an idea for a weird Post Apocalypse society traveling through space towards Proxima Centauri B, and she's trying to figure out where the population would be 50 and 100 years after ...
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Would it be viable to have a pre-wired brain rather than one that is soft-wired or hard-wired?
(Edited question to meet concerns)
The Problem
Can you create synthetic biology that can be installed temporarily in human DNA to give people skills at birth, or are there problems, risks and ...
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Why would life on a different planet use DNA?
Life on Earth pretty early on settled on deoxyribonucleic acid organized in chains of base pairs as the means to code for the construction of proteins which make up a lifeform. It also has the benefit ...
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How small can a population be with regard to genetic diversity?
I'm working on creating a species that favours small families for a number of reasons, and have no interest in 'breeding as much as possible'. As a consequence, their population size is small. But how ...
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How does a species with three "sexes", where only two needed are at a time, determine the sex of its offspring?
I am trying to figure out the sex-determination of a very foreign form of reproduction.
A species has three sexes X, Y, and Z. X produces X gametes, Y produces Y gametes, Z produces Z gametes. They ...
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Genetic Compatibility Amongst Differing "Fantasy" Races
Okay, it's a staple amongst certain fantasy settings where you have different races of creatures and beings co-habiting, which leads to certain off-shoots of different races (the half-elf and half-orc ...
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How to Extend Female Fertility Period without Altering Current Pubescent Timing?
I would like to use CRISPr Cas9 technology to extend the life expectancy of my fictional civilizations. From what I understand, CRISPr could extend life by lengthening telomeres and improve quality of ...
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Can an Alien Breed With Earth Animals?
This is my first post here, but here we go:
I have been creating an alien world for a while, and the sentient species on it is very canine-like. They have a canine body, legs, and head, and the only ...
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Enhance our body by fusing It with better genes
Is it possible for a human body to became better by fusing it with new and better genes if other species? I played Mass Effect: Andromeda and this idea just doesn't come out of my head.
I mean - ...
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Sure-fire way to identify an heir in a world without genetic testing
My question is about unusual hereditary traits in humans. I'm new here and this is my first question - apologies in advance if I've accidentally messed this up or covered existing ground.
I'm writing ...
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How to create a genetically high IQ population while avoiding regression to the mean as much as possible?
Let's say we have a group of high IQ individuals of a sizeable number. In what manner should they reproduce in order to maximise the odds of creating a genetically high IQ population over several ...
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Can human evolve or mutate to become super powerful [closed]
I was wondering, if one day in the future it would be possible for humans to evolve (without tech embedded implants) to characters such as Goku, Hulk ,etc. Characters who are far physically superior ...
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Sandalphon: A Machine that Copied Gametes
Obligatory Premise
In the year 2201, Diego OfeAde has been in control of Mars for 50 years. He has moved mankind into Valles Marineris and his aggressive population expansion program has seen the ...
user15036
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Are genetically engineered wyverns with my specifications possible?
In my post-apocalyptic iron age world meant to be a sci fi twist on fantasy tropes, wyvern like creatures simply known as fliers were said to have been originally created by a crazy billionaire as a ...
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Human Multichromacy--Is This Possible?
In the History Channel program Clash of the Gods, some of the highlit characters have been given some interesting physical liberties. The episode "Minotaur" features King Minos with a meerkat-like ...
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Little Big Planet
Doctor Eric Von Dufe may be a mad scientist, but he still has to work on his evil side. His latest plan? Create small versions of large animals and large versions of small animals. Assuming he has all ...
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Traveling between worlds
If someone could travel between worlds that are not exactly parallel universes, or maybe not even different universes, like for example Asgard, Midgard, Hel, Alfheim, etc., would that be possible due ...
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What happens when genetics and popular politics collide? [closed]
Disclaimer: I understand that the question I'm about to pose has the potential, even the probability, of creating a firestorm response. I'm hoping it won't happen and thank everyone in advance for ...
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If a major disaster wiped out most of humanity, how many survivors would there need to be in order for them to rebuild? [duplicate]
I have a story set about five thousand years after a major disaster reduced the world population from billions down to... well, that's the question. How low could it have gone, and still provide the ...
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How could the intelligence of elephants be raised to a level closer to that of humans?
Elephants are some of the most intellingent mammals, and they have large brain sizes compared to people. They are said to present self-awareness among other things.
How could one go about raising the ...
user9981
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What could cause human females to have an yearly menstrual cycle in the future?
I'm working on a story that is set in the future where human females have evolved to have a fertile period once a year for two months. Is such an evolution scientifically feasible?
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Genetic structure of a trait with six discrete phenotypes
In my world magic is conferred genetically. Their are five "types" of magic, which never mix. You either have one type, or you have another (or none at all, the sixth option), you never have a mix of ...
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Can Genetic Engineering Overcome Inbreeding (homozygosity) Among a Ruling Family Indefinitely?
Premise
In the near future, a cult-like ruling family worships symmetry and condemns asymmetry. By association, they are condemning much of nature as there are many instances of asymmetry in nature (...
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When traveling to an alternate Earth, how many generations would you have to breed with the natives to prevent inbreeding?
A group of 35 superhumans from the future get trapped on the alternative Earth still in the Dark Ages. Banding together they take control of a small country and establish themselves up as kings and ...
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Do we need to match and couple humans manually in future to maintain gene pool of human beings?
(I'm talking binary:Male and female)
This is post apocalyptic scenario.
I'm writing a short story and storyline is as follows:
In a distant future:
After the world war there are only a few thousand ...
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Humanoid Race with Surpressed Myostatin Gene - Appearance?
I'm thinking about using this as a sort of meta explanation for how Orcs (and possibly other things as well) are different than humans (in muscularity), but I'm not entirely sure what the result of ...
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Should people be able to know what disease(s) they may have in the future based on their genetics? [closed]
I recently read a short article in the magazine new scientist saying that 'People in the US will soon be able to buy a genetic test that tells them whether they are at risk for late-onset Alzheimer's ...
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Visual changes in appearance after 6000 years away from earth
The story is as follows, a group of people (around 2000 from all around the world) leaves earth and lives on a different (earth like) planet for ca 6000 (earth) years. The planet is about 0.8 times ...
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How would humans adapt to extreme climates [closed]
I have a situation when urbanites without any useful survival skills (bankers, marketers, curators, sociologists, etc) are mysteriously brought on a Earth like planet. They have to revert to hunting ...
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How could cats evolve toxic claws?
This cat looks like a normal Maine Coon to the unsuspecting victim. Except for one little detail:
Red claws that inject a neurotoxin into the victim onpon scratching it. What would be the most ...
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How can hornets be engineered to kill a human with a single sting?
Asian Giant Hornets are particularly vicious and deliver a dose of neurotoxin to its victims. Generally an average of 59 stings are sufficient to kill a healthy non-allergic man
Given a suitable ...
user10945
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How to limit the proportion of a Force sensitive population?
I'm making a world where small part of population are like Star Wars Force sensitives. They have high status in my world, as the sensitivity gives them certain advantages over ordinary people. A ...
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Can a species without uniform brain function time survive?
The magical species Zartika living on planet NB-8723D has organisms whose brains function at different speeds. All have almost the same physical body, but there lies some difference in their brains.
...
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How quickly would a genetic trait originally found in only 1 village spread across Earth?
The main trait of my story originates from a village in what's now the Belgian city of Tongeren, around 1000 BC in our timeline. Anyone born there after that trait arrived will have the trait, as will ...
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What selection pressures would favor isogametous reproduction requiring more than two parents?
A hypothetical organism is tetraploid and isogametous. To reproduce, four haploid gametes must meet and fuse into a tetraploid zygote. Any four individuals are sexually compatible, barring self-...
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What types of genetic characteristics would help animals survive a decades long nuclear winter?
I'm picturing a world say a 100 years after a devastating nuclear war with a decades long nuclear winter where DNA damage due to war related radiation as well as subsequent ozone depletion have ...
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Magical Talent: Genes vs. Enviroment
I've built a magical world. In this world, mages crop up one of two ways.
1) Genetically passed down.
2) Through exposure of magic, for example, growing up in a magical forest.
I would also like ...
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What animal would men ride, if such animal was the same size as a horse [closed]
I'm currently trying to build a world where there is no animal that is like a horse, for example mule, or donkey, or horse.
What animal could be ridden by humans if the animals were the same size as ...
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If Our Horses Came From the OTHER Subspecies
It has become common knowledge among mammalologists that the origins of our most iconic rides, the horse, stemmed from the tarpan, a breed of wild horse that became extinct as recently as 1909 CE.
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Caste system by natural selection
Suppose there were a human society where rules of natural selection apply, but in a faster way, genetics change fast enough to be noticeable after a few generations (a static society with normal ...
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Humanity Without STIs [closed]
In the history of disease, ranking high among the list of most deadly are the rogues gallery of sexually transmitted infections--syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV and especially AIDS....
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The Red Skin Gene
In one of my more recent questions, one Xandar The Zenon commented that a mutation that creates the gene for red or orange pigmentation on the human skin is more likely than green, blue or purple.
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