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

Stone Gordonssen:

> Also, if only 10% of the human population is gay, then to me, this
> would
> indicate that the gene(s) is/are recessive.
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.

Of course, brachydactyly is probably not as subject to selective
pressure than is homosexuality!

> 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.  If you can identify the
gene(s)
and test the entire population, it would go more quickly.  Not that
anyone
is actually advocating this, I hope.

I tend to think that there are numerous genetic, developmental, and
environmental factors that are important, and "homosexuality" is not
one specific state anyway.

[1] http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/synth_2.htm

-Tone, armchair pop-geneticist

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