How "Information On Genes" works

To ask a question, send email to questions@ongenes.info.
All questions are anonymous. Your question may be edited, merged with another question or published sometime in the future. However, you will get a reply to your question by email in any case.

To answer a question, use the comment feature.
We are looking for answers from people with some expertise, and you will be asked to log in so that we know who you are. No anonymous answers!

Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts

Saturday, January 5, 2008

How quickly does inbreeding produce homozygosity?

What is the probability that locus is homozygous due to inbreeding after a given number of generations? The answer should be an equation expressing this probability as a function of the number of generations.

This question was inspired by a recent review of mouse genetics (Peters et al. 2007. "The mouse as a model for human biology: a resource guide for complex trait analysis" Nature Reviews Genetics 8, 58-69. doi:10.1038/nrg2025), which states, without qualification, that "Inbred mouse strains are derived from a single parental mating pair with subsequent repeated brother–sister intercrosses and no breeding from non-sibling mice. After 20 generations of inbreeding, the mice are genetically identical and homozygous at all loci." 20 generations is an accepted benchmark that leaves a very low probability of homozygosity, but that probability is not zero. What is it?

This is really three questions (or more).

1) Selfing organisms like Arabidopsis thaliana or Caenorhabditis elegans present a simple case. Here, the probability that a given locus remains heterozygous is simply (1/2)n, where n is the number of generations.

2) The mouse, which represents all diploid species where crosses between full siblings is possible. Brothers and sisters that share the same two parents. I suspect the equation for this case has been worked out. What is the answer?

3) Species where females store sperm. In this case one can isolate a female each generation. She will have mated with her (possibly half-) brothers prior to isolation. Here the probability of homozygosity is a function not only of the number of generations, but also the probability of the female having mated with a full brother vs. a half-brother.

Friday, November 16, 2007

How does this site work?

This site, "Information on Genes" (ongenes.com) is a place where answers to questions on genes, genetics and genomics are provided by experts in the field.

The site differs from a blog in that answers will be provided by many experts in the field. If a question falls in the area of expertise of a specific researcher, then an answer from that researcher may be sought. The site is like wikipedia in that many people will contribute to the final product, but it is different in that everyone who answers a question must identify themselves. Answers are posted as "comments" which must be approved. Inappropriate answers will not be approved. The site resembles a forum in that an ongoing discussion is possible, but differs in that every set of answers will be maintained as a permanent page. Questions on breaking news are encouraged only if the answers will still be of interest in a year or two.

To ask a question, send email to questions@ongenes.info.
All questions will be posted anonymously. Your question may be edited, merged with another question or published sometime in the future. However, you will get a reply to your question by email in any case, and if you don't want your question to be anonymous, then say so in your email.

To answer a question, use the comment feature.
We are looking for answers from people with some expertise, and you will be asked to log in so that we know who you are. If you have an account with blogger (Google) and are logged in, you can answer simply by clicking on the "comments" link. If not, create a Google account and a profile that tells us who you are. We are looking for answers from experts in the field, but have no desire to censor appropriate answers from anyone who lets us know their credentials.

Our hope is that this site will provide useful information to anyone trying to understand genetic tests, including professionals in the field.