Rachel wrote:
>In genetics, there is no such thing as a flaw.  There is only the
>expression of a gene in the phenotype (what you see).  Some traits may
>be more desirable to us, but the fact that the trait persists means that
>there may be something else that it effects that is good!
 
Alternately, the trait may persist simply because there is no selection
against it during the ferret's lifetime-- in the hypothetical wild, a
deaf ferret would be at a decided disadvantage, and deaf ferrets would
probably not survive in large numbers to pass their genes along (because
the gene is present as a recessive gene in the ferret's genotype, there
would be occasional manifestations of deaf ferrets, as a matter of
random chance, even though the trait is selected against).
 
In our houses, however, deaf ferrets get along fine (well, ok, sometimes
they can make us tear our hair out when we can't find them, but as far as
they're concerned they're fine) (maybe I should qualify this-- my mostly
deaf ferret gets along fine, others may vary).  Because the coat colors
and patterns linked to this trait have been selected for by humans, the
waardensburg gene has inadvertantly become selected for as well.  I'd like
to believe that when the pandas, blazes, etc were being bred for, breeders
weren't aware of the potential risks-- and after all, it's not super
obvious when a ferret is deaf.  My panda-blaze-wannabe (the Killians' term
fits her best!) doesn't hear most noises (I suspect that the noises she
does appear to hear she is actually sensing as vibrations, like the vacuum
cleaner) hasn't been slowed down in the slightest by her lack of hearing--
at 4.5, she's still my fierce little monster :)
 
All this was a long-winded way of saying that just because a trait exists,
does not necessarily mean that it is linked to anything productive for the
survival of the individual or the species, at least not until humans get
into the act by domesticating a species, whereupon the definition of what
is "good" or most beneficial for the survival of the species is rewritten
from scratch.  It is really fascinating how domestication affects the
genetic portrait of a species.
 
BIG, I hope you don't mind the genetic stuff-- as someone who lives with a
waardensburg ferret, I find it all quite interesting...
 
Regina
 
Regina Harrison
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083
Electra the Brujah's page:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/8096
 
You will find me if you want me in the garden,
unless it's pouring down with rain...
--EN
[Posted in FML issue 2577]