Albino Gorilla 'Snowflake' Was Inbred, Gene Sequence Shows

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by odonII, Jun 17, 2013.

  1. odonII

    odonII O

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    Snowflake was a male Western lowland gorilla. He was born in the wild and captured in 1966 by villagers in Equatorial Guinea. As the only known white gorilla in the world, Snowflake was a zoo celebrity until his death of skin cancer in 2003.

    A few studies had attempted to get to the bottom of what caused Snowflake's color-free complexion, but the exact genetic mutation had never been found. Now, Spanish researchers have sequenced the gorilla's entire genome, revealing that Snowflake was probably the offspring of a pairing between an uncle and a niece.
     
  2. Maelstrom

    Maelstrom Banned

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    Basically, an inbred defect, then. lol
     
  3. odonII

    odonII O

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    Tis a little harsh...but yes, I guess.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. bird_migration

    bird_migration ~

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    Nice, I know who to fuck then if I want albino kids.
     
  5. daisymae

    daisymae Senior Member

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    Are all albinos inbred? There is a family around here that has at least 2 albino kids.
     
  6. odonII

    odonII O

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    In humans, I don't think so. In most types of albinism, a recessive trait, the child inherits flawed genes for making melanin from both parents.
     
  7. porkstock41

    porkstock41 Every time across from me...not there!

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    many diseases are caused this way - you need two "bad" copies of the recessive gene in order to have the disease.

    so if a family has a genetic history of having this recessive trait, it would be more likely for an inbred offspring to get two copies.

    but in the example of the family with two albino kids - the mom and the dad probably each have one bad copy. doesn't mean they are related to each other.
     
  8. odonII

    odonII O

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    That's why I thought I would not mention it.
     
  9. Heat

    Heat Smile, it's contagious! :) Lifetime Supporter

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    :eek: Posting and time has not been kind to our poor little VanillaGorilla. :)
     
  10. odonII

    odonII O

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    He was the inspiration.


    I just read there was supposed to be a film about this...but it seems to be on some shelf somewhere...

    http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Vanilla-Gorilla/108357/
     

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