[ExI] biology term

[rex]

spike <spike66 at att.net> [2016-10-12 14:07]:
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf
>> Of rex
>> There are several terms for it. 
>> 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balancing_selection
>> 
>> I suspect it's more common than is generally recognized.
 

> Thanks Rex.  You and Stathis identified it as heterozygote advantage.  I
> thought there was a more specific term for that concept, but this states the
> notion:
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterozygote_advantage
> 
> OK cool, so if we identify a bunch of these heterozygote advantages, then we
> could use CRISPR to induce the mutant copy widely.  Then when couples with
> the mutation mate, a heterozygous embryo is chosen, then the result is a
> healthier population (even though not one which can reproduce haphazardly.)

Nature will, over the long term, keep the gene frequencies in balance,
while lagging the environment. Fiddling with gene frequencies without
knowing more about the consequences is a risky business.

-rex
--
Theories: Four stages of acceptance: i) this is worthless nonsense; ii)
this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view; iii) this is true,
but quite unimportant; iv) I always said so. (J.B.S. Haldane, Journal of
Genetics #58, 1963,p.464)