Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [genetics]

The science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms.

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Is there more genetic difference between men and women than men and male chimpanzees?

I got into trouble with someone yesterday for poo-pooing this idea as it smelled of apples and oranges to me. The specific statistic was that genetically there is a 5% difference between men and women, while there is only a 2% difference between men…
Benjol
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Is one in two hundred men a descendant of Genghis Khan?

I've read years ago that 8% of all Asian men and thus 0.5% of all men would be descendant of Genghis Khan. Is there any truth to this? Or was this some trick to get their paper published? Citation of the original paper: Zerjal, Tatiana et al. "The…
Carra
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Can the Bajau people stay underwater for as long as 13 minutes?

National Geographic 4/2018: 'Sea Nomads' Are First Known Humans Genetically Adapted to Diving claims: But a group of people called the Bajau takes free diving to the extreme, staying underwater for as long as 13 minutes at depths of around 200…
Franck Dernoncourt
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Do humans share 99% of their DNA with rats?

I keep hearing this claim that a lab "rat has 99% of the DNA of a human?" Is that so? What exactly does this mean? One source for this claim seems to CNN which only says, "About 99 percent of genes in humans have counterparts in the mouse," said…
Evan Carroll
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Of all humans ever born, did most men not become fathers?

I quote in full a passage from the book Is There Anything Good About Men?: How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men by Roy Baumeister, pages 63 – 64: Counting Ancestors Let’s return now to the question of what percentage of our ancestors were…
Ystar
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Is this image of eye colour inheritance accurate?

This image is circulating on social media (e.g. Pinterest). It implies that if you have green eyes, then you can't possibly have one biological parent with blue eyes and the other with brown. The image also says if you have brown eyes, your parents…
not given
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Does homosexuality preserve the species?

From The Huffington Post: For even without a causal link established between homosexuality and population management, the obvious reduction in population growth attributable to homosexuality by itself indubitably works to preserve the species. …
Carlo Alterego
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Is intelligence declining due to the lack of selection pressure?

I have read lately that human intelligence has already peaked and that it will slowly decline over time because humans are no longer naturally selected for intelligence (Darwin award winners aside). In particular, from the first link: Humans are…
Brian M. Hunt
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Do corporations own human DNA sequences?

I came across the claim that Human DNA sequences are now owned by corporations: FACT: HUMAN DNA SEQUENCES ARE NOW OWNED BY CORPORATIONS Is this true? If so, what does this mean? (I realise question 2 may be off-topic on this site, but I find it…
gerrit
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Is Lamarckian evolution still considered credible?

I had thought that Lamarckian evolution had been essentially dismissed in favour of Darwinian evolution. Lamarckian evolution as I understand it is essentially the idea that the traits an organism develops in it's lifetime can then be passed to its…
Sonny Ordell
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Has natural occuring genetic insertion ever been observed in direct offspring of some organism?

Maybe this is somewhat of an ignorant question of me, and in all honesty I haven't tried very hard to find what I'm looking for1, but I keep hearing the argument that "information" can never be added to genetic code, from creationists / intelligent…
Decent Dabbler
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Are red heads more likely to be hot headed?

It's a common cliche that red heads are more likely to have a fiery personality. To quote from Wikipedia: A common belief about redheads is that they have fiery tempers and sharp tongues. In Anne of Green Gables, a character says of Anne …
Sonny Ordell
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Is baldness inherited?

There are many articles on how baldness is inherited (mostly from the mother's side of the family). In the BBC Life program, the narrator linked baldness to higher levels of testosterone. Is baldness inherited?
Vinoth Kumar C M
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Can a twin perceive that the other is in trouble?

There are many stories about twins being able to "feel" each other even when they are apart. Typically a twin would say that they felt that an accident or some other calamity happened to the other one even though they were in different cities etc.…
Vitaly Mijiritsky
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Can Tifton 85 grass produce cyanide gas?

Today I read something quite unexpected: Preliminary tests revealed the Tifton 85 grass, which has been here for years, had suddenly started producing cyanide gas, poisoning the cattle. [...] What is more worrisome: Other farmers have tested…
Sklivvz
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