I just listened to the Economist Babbage podcast in which they discussed ways of dealing with malaria through mosquito genetics. One idea is to take what has been already found in nature -- what is called a "selfish gene" -- and have it spread across the malaria-bearing mosquito population (which is actually 3 different species of mosquito). A selfish gene is one that somehow aids and abets its own propagation to the next generation. These have apparently been recognized as a reality in nature for some time. We have had discussions on this list about autosomal DNA that has persisted over multiple generations in excess of what the assumption of 50-50 average recombination would lead us to expect -- but which we have found in the reality of the descendants of some ancestor much further back than would be expected by so many descendants sharing the DNA. It is not at all common, but it is there in some cases. I do not know enough about genetics to say whether the "selfish gene" observed in nature is connected to what we are seeing in some cases in the atDNA of descendants of some ancestors.

This sounds a bit scrambled. 'The Selfish Gene’ <https://smile.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary-Landmark-Science/dp/0198788606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542844263&sr=1-1&keywords=the+selfish+gene+by+richard+dawkins> is a book by Richard Dawkins, considered by many to be the most influential science book of all time. Dawkins postulates that ALL genes are “motivated” to maximize their own success; that the inherent nature of all genes is selfish. But I don’t believe this is meant to apply to small bits of code or segments, but to genomes as a whole. Lisa W > On Nov 21, 2018, at 3:23 PM, Wesley Johnston via GENEALOGY-DNA <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > I just listened to the Economist Babbage podcast in which they discussed ways of dealing with malaria through mosquito genetics. One idea is to take what has been already found in nature -- what is called a "selfish gene" -- and have it spread across the malaria-bearing mosquito population (which is actually 3 different species of mosquito). > A selfish gene is one that somehow aids and abets its own propagation to the next generation. These have apparently been recognized as a reality in nature for some time. > We have had discussions on this list about autosomal DNA that has persisted over multiple generations in excess of what the assumption of 50-50 average recombination would lead us to expect -- but which we have found in the reality of the descendants of some ancestor much further back than would be expected by so many descendants sharing the DNA. It is not at all common, but it is there in some cases. > I do not know enough about genetics to say whether the "selfish gene" observed in nature is connected to what we are seeing in some cases in the atDNA of descendants of some ancestors. > > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community