Noahs inbred family tree

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At 06:01 AM 1/3/99 -0500, achillesz@usa.net wrote:

>> > BEREAN

>> > > I mean mankind became so wicked so quickly that He had to destroy >

>> > > >all of mankind except for Noah and his family in the Flood.

>> 

>> 

>> Dave G.

>> Ok, Noah and his family numbered 8 people total.  I don't believe there is

>> enough genetic variation in 8 people for this "repopulation" to work.

>> 

>> I seem to recall from classes many years ago that a gene pool of 300+

>> individuals is required, or the gene pool becomes too shallow, resulting

>> in sterility, deformities, etc. I also believe this only applies to the

>> more complex animals such as mammals. Is there a list member with a

>> genetics background who can confirm or deny this?

>

>Achilles

>

>My genetics background is limited to some reading on my own and one class, but 

>I did get an A in it and will respond as well as I can. I believe your 

>statement is essentially accurate. 8 People would be far too few to produce a 

>viable gene pool, especially considering that they were all supposedly close 

>relatives. 250-300 is the number I remember hearing, there have been smaller 

>populations that worked but they also relied on some exogamy (marrying outside 

>their own people) so that the effective population size was larger, including 

>their neighbours. 

>


TILL
I don't want to become a Joe Alward on this issue, but wouldn't the
viability of a limited gene pool depend on what was in the pool?  I used to
breed and show dachshunds, and one of my best bitches was the result of a
sire-to-daughter breeding.  I bred her to her sire's half-brother and
produced a litter of four that had two champions in it.  In other words, I
knew that I was dealing with a gene pool that had proven itself over
hundreds of breedings, so the danger of producing defective offspring was
minimal, whereas such inbreeding as this in unproven stock would be very
unwise.  I understand that inbreeding of this type is done in other animals too.

To say that there was a gene pool of eight people isn't entirely accurate.
At the most, the pool would have consisted of only five, because Noah's
three sons would have had only the genes of Noah and his wife.  If we assume
that the wives of the three sons were unrelated, there would have been a
gene pool of only five individuals (Noah, his wife, and their three
daughters-in-law).  If two of the wives were sisters, there would have been
a pool of only four.  However, the repopulation of the earth from a gene
pool of five individuals wouldn't be any more absurd than populating the
entire earth from a pool of just two, i.e., Adam and Eve.

Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net

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