Blondes to go extinct!!!

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Roman, Sep 10, 2008.

  1. Roman Banned Banned

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    SnakeLord made this claim, then linked to an article that hardly qualified as science journalism. The article claimed that they'd disappear in 200 years.

    Can the genetics student explain why this misconception is so easy to make- what may lead people to believe that the blonde allele could be lost? Do any of you have any idea what forces would be required to push the blonde genotype to fixation?

    No, you are all idiots.
    But I think it would be funny if you tried.
     
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  3. one_raven God is a Chinese Whisper Valued Senior Member

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    I have always preferred brunettes, anyway.
    I like redheads too.
    Blondes have never really turned my wrenches - with some exceptions, of course.
     
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  5. Roman Banned Banned

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    You had a blonde mechanic?
     
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  7. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    2000+ years and going strong. I really doubt it. They are filling up the harems of Arabia as we speak.

    But yeah Peroxide might actually screw it up over the next 200 years.
     
  8. Pandaemoni Valued Senior Member

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    Perhaps it's because blonds are such a distinct minority that the inevitable mixing of the various populations that globalization brings is likely toi chase it out of population, except on rare occasion.

    I dunno. Never heard the claim before.
     
  9. one_raven God is a Chinese Whisper Valued Senior Member

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    Isn't the blonde gene recessive?
     
  10. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Yes it is. Think about that. 2000 years - recessive gene...

    Edit OOPS actually 13000 years. Yeah it's not going anywhere for a while.
     
  11. one_raven God is a Chinese Whisper Valued Senior Member

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    But thousands of years ago, cultures were not mixing as readily as they are now.
    Where there were blondes, there were a LOT of blondes.
     
  12. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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  13. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    More blondes than now? Think about that...
     
  14. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    Blondes have been a minority since the beginning of their existence. Somehow, they have survived and multiplied into a bigger population. Same goes for blue-eyed people and pale-skinned people.
     
  15. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Even if it totally went out of style, as a "sex-selected" gene, it's wild and it's out there, from Australia to Scandinavia.
     
  16. one_raven God is a Chinese Whisper Valued Senior Member

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    Locally? Yes. Greater in concentration.

    Northern Italy, Sweeden, The Netherlands...

    These formerly hermetically sealed cultures are mixing more and more - people moving; people moving out...
     
  17. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Like I said, I think fake hair coloring is going to make the per-capita numbers for blonde hair go down more than any other trend.
     
  18. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    It's a recessive that confers advantage. That's almost impossible to eradicate.
     
  19. Roman Banned Banned

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    Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive that kills you by the time you're thirty. It, too, isn't going anywhere.


    Anyway, you guys didn't fail to disappoint. Thanks!!
     
  20. Anti-Flag Pun intended Registered Senior Member

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    I may be wrong but having read that twice it doesn't actually point out anywhere WHY the assumption of the blonde gene disappearing is actually wrong. All it says is it can't and it's a hoax. :shrug:

    Logically speaking and from what I was taught in biology(which is probably now outdated) as it's recessive the numbers will decrease over time as IIRC it requires both parents to pass on the gene(note: this doesn't mean they both have to be blonde they just have to be carriers). 200 years is much too short however.
     
  21. Roman Banned Banned

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    Fine. I'll explain it to you. All of you.

    In a closed population, a neutral allele will remain at the same frequency for successive generations. The biology class you had must have been shit, anti-flag, if they still believed that misconception that Hardy & Weinberg showed to be wrong in 1908.

    The blonde allele is most definitely neutral, if not slightly beneficial, so won't be going "extinct". The overall phenotypic frequency may decrease, as blondes begin mating with people who have no blonde alleles, but the number of blonde alleles in the total population will remain unchanged. There is simply no mechanism by which blonde alleles can be removed from the gene pool by any efficacy. Without such a mechanism, changes in allele frequencies will not be observed, which, definitionally, means evolution and "extinction" cannot occur.

    Really, every high school student should know why blondes can't go extinct under the current set of environmental conditions. It's a shame that there are so many here who "believe in evolution" but lack a fundamental understanding of how it works.
     
  22. Anti-Flag Pun intended Registered Senior Member

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnett_square
    This is pretty much the extent of my high school biology class with regards to the subject. I understand the recessive gene is still carried by non-blondes, but was lead to believe that as it's recessive the frequency with which it produces a blonde child is lower than that of other colours. Meaning they can never go extinct, but they can become much rarer as time passes.
    Perhaps my high school teacher needs firing.
     
  23. Diode-Man Awesome User Title Registered Senior Member

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    NOooooooooooOOOOoooooo!!!!!!

    I haven't even got around to stocking Brittany Snow yet!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2008

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