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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Is it true puppies get the best out of both parent's genes?
« on: 24/04/2017 13:27:13 »
Breeders of "designer breed" dogs tend to advertise their puppies as all having the most desirable traits of each breed. A common example is when the breeder of Labrador X poodle (commonly referred to as the "labradoodle") will claim that the dog is highly intelligent (implying a poodle trait), non-shedding (poodle trait), easy to train (Labrador trait), friendly (presumably a Labrador trait), and hypoallergenic (made-up trait).
Strangely enough, they never seem to entertain the idea that the puppies could be a boisterous (Labrador), allergic to everything (poodle), hypochondriac (poodle), indiscriminate eater of garbage (Labrador) with horribly hairy ears (poodles) and chronic ear infections (both breeds). Genetic wishful thinking...
The actual puppies could be some random combination of the genes of each parent, and may even be different from the other litter mates. Just like puppies in the same litter can be different-coloured and different-sexed, they can also be of different disease status. If it's lucky, the pup might not get a certain defect that its parents had. If it's unlucky, it may end up with two deleterious genes and be clinically diseased compared to its parents (if each parent only carries one deleterious gene for a particular trait).
Strangely enough, they never seem to entertain the idea that the puppies could be a boisterous (Labrador), allergic to everything (poodle), hypochondriac (poodle), indiscriminate eater of garbage (Labrador) with horribly hairy ears (poodles) and chronic ear infections (both breeds). Genetic wishful thinking...
The actual puppies could be some random combination of the genes of each parent, and may even be different from the other litter mates. Just like puppies in the same litter can be different-coloured and different-sexed, they can also be of different disease status. If it's lucky, the pup might not get a certain defect that its parents had. If it's unlucky, it may end up with two deleterious genes and be clinically diseased compared to its parents (if each parent only carries one deleterious gene for a particular trait).