Choosy Eggs May Pick Sperm for Their Genes, Defying Mendel’s Law
quantamagazine.org
quantamagazine.org
Edit: miscarriages are incredibly common. This will/has affected people of almost all backgrounds. The culture of silence on the topic leaves you totally unprepared for it as a reality.
I agree that silence doesn't help and on HN is most likely unnecessary. But in general conversation it is reasonable to be a bit more circumspect.
None the less, sorry about that.
Mind you, I get the couple is often guttes. But emotions aside, it's a biological positive.
When you experience this the only thing that helps is understanding that it is nothing you did but a simple case of things not having worked.
I agree, on the surface my intent (from my POV) was not to offend. That said, I can see how my word / idea choice could have been better.
The apology is to acknowledge that yes I could have done better and then even if I didn't mean to offend the receiver's does still have value. Human to human, I wanted to acknowledge that.
Perhaps not very HN but I'm comfortable with that ;)
A friend of mine to who had the misfortune of this happening to him described it as the "worst thing he could ever image happening to a person" - they were mentally broken for months. So I wouldn't say this is a lighthearted comment to make, especially if you said it to them face-to-face.
Stillbirth is rare. Miscarriage is incredibly common.
Both are painful I suspect a stillbirth far more so. The difference is that people shouldn't expect a stillbirth anymore than the death of a child - there is no need to prepare for it as a likely outcome. Meanwhile if you are intending to have more than one birth child you are more likely to experience miscarriage than not - it is better to be ready for it than have it come as a total surprise.
Edited slightly.
Assuming this is true, it would be happening in less than 1% of cases (given the prevalence of male-factor infertility and the prevalence of its known causes). So if such an ability exists, it doesn't seem to be getting used very often. Which, given the evolutionary complexity that would be required to evolve such a system, seems surprising. So my guess is that either that's not a thing, or else it exists only as a failure state of some other mechanism rather than as something that has evolved to directly confer some sort of reproductive advantage.
To me that doesn't sound too far fetched and to some extent makes perfect sense.
But way more impressive. How can a cell with a single strand of DNA 'decide' which copy of a gene is a mutation? Or do eggs just bias for sperm with more genetic differences?
Basically it could be that the egg and the sperm have different proteins expressed on their cellular surfaces which go together like a lock and key and may also function as attractors ( chemical sensing or something).. all of this would originate from genes in the gametes.
Most evolutionary theorists think more like physicists and do realize every trait is selectable.
Genetic differences that have no bearing on survivability, like skin patterns or colors or whatever, should be widespread through every species, but they're not.
He said, "We're tuned to notice differences between people, not pigeons. Perhaps we all look the same to them!"
Perhaps there is precisely this sort of random variation in the differences we don't notice, because by being oblivious to them they are not sexually selected for or against?
There's also a flaw in your premise -- reproduction is not random, it's subject to selection at a number of levels. Most selective forces act to reduce genetic diversity, both at the selected gene, and at nearby genes.
i.e. Mr. "It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down."
I can’t find a specific reference offhand though.