Jabriol wrote:
> so if we get rid..uh.. isolate every hemophiliac in the world, and
> casra...uh
> nuterize them.. would we remove the defective gene
No: as is the case with most all recessive traits there may be a
slight shift in what is called the "Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium"
(which is reallly for autosomal recessive, not sex linked, traits)
but only to the extent that hemophiliacs now have children (which
accounts for a small percentage of the transmission of the gene).
This is true even though the defective gene (coding for clotting
factor 8) for most hemophiliacs is found on the X chromosome making
this a "sex linked" characteristic (meaning that male offspring of a
heterozygous mother have a 50% of being hemophiliacs).
Remember Queen Victoria? The Tsaravich? Rasputin? Don't we teach
this stuff in high school anymore?
The only way to remove such a gene from the population is for both
hemophiliacs and carriers of the trait to refrain from procreating.
While this may sound like a good idea where do we draw the line on
this kind of practice for inherited traits? Homosexuality? Baldness?
Votes for Republicans?
Het, I'm a bacteriologist, what do I know?
Steve Projan
Wyeth-Ayerst Labs
