What a tangled web we weave...

[6_bleen_7]

...when first we practice to conceive!

Sorry about that. You know, for a professional geneticist, I sure don't talk much about genetics in here. Not surprising, really-it's too much like work. But I've been dying to use that title for months now....

I got to thinking about my ethnic heritage after watching a scene in the movie Porco Rosso, in

Comments

[6_bleen_7]

Ur! Ur! Ur! (← seal noises)

A note of explanation: The Greek letter Ψ represents the coefficient of kinship, which is the same thing as the inbreeding coefficient, except that it applies to the parents rather than to the offspring. Generally, when calculating f it is easier to calculate Ψ for the parents, which has the same value.

[samwibatt]

I forgot about the Porco Rosso thing with Donald Curtis being 1/16 Italian - I still haven't watched that disc, even though I picked it up some time ago.

The finest genetic distinction I can think of in literature is Tom in Pudd'nhead Wilson, who is 1/32 black and therefore all black as far as society is concerned.

[6_bleen_7]

Crap, I forgot all about that. I read Pudd'nhead Wilson a few years ago; I remember all that about switching the "black" baby with the "genuinely" white one and nobody noticing.