How does the body mix up our genes?

Right. But, the 50% from the father has to contain a different mix of the same genes in each sperm, or all the kids from the same couple would be twins. Likewise with the mother's 50%. How does the body perform this mixing of the parent's genes in the sperm and the eggs?
 
you see, Mother and Father each have 2 different genomes, and only the dominant genes win. the sperm is given one of them from each, hence only there you have 4 variations, given that they are different. they also have those on every chromosome, so the variations are 4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4 = 4^46
 
Last edited:
mountainhare said:
The body mixes up the genes in the eggs and sperm via 'crossing over' during Prophase I in meiosis.
Click to expand...

Ofcourse, that was the answer he should have gotten. I don't remember exactly how that works, how does it work mountainhare? I remember it was somewhat advanced though.
 
I don't think the body always does a very good job of mixing the genes up.
capt.bccee8115b684ff8baf4a26cd3a944c6.germany_zebrahorse_fra120.jpg

Why is it this way (in chunks) instead of completely mixed?
 
Why don't we have mixed children with totally white parts (an arm and leg)and totally black parts (face and chest). They are mixed. That animal was NOT mixed.
 
So, 4 to the 46th power comprises the total number of possible combinations between the egg and the sperm? That means the odds of being selected among all those various combinations are 1 in 4,951,760,157,141,521,095,596,496,896. Wow! Makes me feel like a won the mega mega lottery.
 
Actually this is not correct:
you see, Mother and Father each have 2 different genomes, and only the dominant genes win. the sperm is given one of them from each, hence only there you have 4 variations
Click to expand...

Your parents do not have two different genomes each. A genome is the total of genetic material. Per definitionem every organism has only one genome. What they have is two sets of chromsomes. Dominance at this point does not play a role.
During meiosis (generation of sperm or egg cells) this set is halved. During fusion of a sperm cell with an egg cell whole (duplicated) set of chromosomes is restored again.
What mountainhare meant is an additional unspecific exchange of genetic material between the duplicated chromosome sets of your parents during meiosis. So in the end the halved chromosomes are not identical to the given chromsome from your grandparents, but a mix of them.
 
CharonZ said:
Actually this is not correct:


Your parents do not have two different genomes each. A genome is the total of genetic material. Per definitionem every organism has only one genome. What they have is two sets of chromsomes. Dominance at this point does not play a role.
During meiosis (generation of sperm or egg cells) this set is halved. During fusion of a sperm cell with an egg cell whole (duplicated) set of chromosomes is restored again.
What mountainhare meant is an additional unspecific exchange of genetic material between the duplicated chromosome sets of your parents during meiosis. So in the end the halved chromosomes are not identical to the given chromsome from your grandparents, but a mix of them.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes. 2 longitudinal halves of dna, that both codes for a human.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top