Re: OT: What? the clean-shaven outnumber the bearded?"YerUgly Mug," etc.

>Not necessarily.  Brachydactyly is caused by a dominant autonomous
>allele, yet it is a rare condition.  You can't predict the frequency of
>an allele from knowing whether it is dominant or recessive.  The model
>of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium [1] holds that genotype frequencies
>in a population tend to remain unchanged in the absence of selection.
Cool. (I had to look up brachydactyly). Always good to learn something new.
I'm not, by any stretch of imagination, a geneticist.

>Of course, brachydactyly is probably not as subject to selective
>pressure than is homosexuality!
Unless/until someone or some group decides he/she doesn't like
brachydactyly, and sets out to have those exhibiting it ostracized and
vilified.

> > I know one can breed to retain selected traits, but can one breed to
>erradicate a recessive trait
> > without restricting whole lines from breeding?
>
>Sure, sterilize everyone related to those expressing the trait and you
>could take it out within a few generations.
Yes, but to my mind, this is still restricting those whole lines from
breeding, perhaps on a grosser scale.

>I tend to think that there are numerous genetic, developmental, and
>environmental factors that are important, and "homosexuality" is not
>one specific state anyway.
I agree, but then I try (and sometimes fail) not to see everything in the
universe as polarized.

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