Is it possible to weed out baldness?

[Qurios]

Hello, hopefully someone here can help me.

I had a discussion with my collegue about this following topic:

 

 

If all bald men stopped having babies, would the bald men eventually die out or be noticably diminished?

 

How many generations would it take?

 

I know women also can pass down the bald-gene but wouldnt it be fewer of them also?

Edited June 19, 2012 by Qurios

[Qurios]

Anyone have any suggestions?

[CaptainPanic]

The simple answer would be: Yes, selective breeding will also work with humans.

[Joatmon]

I'm 74 with a good head of hair - anyone require my services?

[D H]

If all bald men stopped having babies, would the bald men eventually die out or be noticably diminished?

 

How many generations would it take?

 

I know women also can pass down the bald-gene but wouldnt it be fewer of them also?

This wouldn't work for two reasons.

 

Reason #1 is that it's targeting the wrong gender. Genes from the father might alter the pattern, alter the susceptibility, but baldness is primarily passed from mother to son. A culprit has even been found on the X in a gene that regulates androgen receptors. Having all bald men stop fathering babies (and how are you going to accomplish that?) would do nothing with regard to the goal of eliminating baldness.

 

Reason #2 is that it's pure evil. The only way to stop men from fathering babies / women from having babies is to sterilize them. Forced sterilization nowadays is a punishment reserved for the worst of sex offenders.

Edited June 20, 2012 by D H

[Qurios]

This wouldn't work for two reasons.

 

Reason #1 is that it's targeting the wrong gender. Genes from the father might alter the pattern, alter the susceptibility, but baldness is primarily passed from mother to son. A culprit has even been found on the X in a gene that regulates androgen receptors. Having all bald men stop fathering babies (and how are you going to accomplish that?) would do nothing with regard to the goal of eliminating baldness.

 

Reason #2 is that it's pure evil. The only way to stop men from fathering babies / women from having babies is to sterilize them. Forced sterilization nowadays is a punishment reserved for the worst of sex offenders.

 

 

But wouldnt the baldness gene be slightly diminished over time due to the fact the bald men would no longer father more woman to carry the gene? There should be a noticable decline at least?

 

And don't worry this is only a thought experiment.

Edited June 20, 2012 by Qurios

[Greg H.]

This wouldn't work for two reasons.

 

Reason #1 is that it's targeting the wrong gender. Genes from the father might alter the pattern, alter the susceptibility, but baldness is primarily passed from mother to son. A culprit has even been found on the X in a gene that regulates androgen receptors. Having all bald men stop fathering babies (and how are you going to accomplish that?) would do nothing with regard to the goal of eliminating baldness.

 

Reason #2 is that it's pure evil. The only way to stop men from fathering babies / women from having babies is to sterilize them. Forced sterilization nowadays is a punishment reserved for the worst of sex offenders.

 

Respectfully, I have to disagree with reason #2. Evil is not a factor in determining effectiveness. While I agree it's wrong, nature doesn't share our idea of ethics. As CP said, selective breeding will work on humans, even if it happens to be morally reprehensible and enforced selective breeding.

[D H]

But wouldnt the baldness gene be slightly diminished over time due to the fact the bald men would no longer father more woman to carry the gene? There should be a noticable decline at least?

Reason #3 this wouldn't work. You're closing the barn door after the cow got out. Bald men don't father all that many babies. Young men who may or may not go bald in another 20 years or more are the ones who father babies. By the time those men do go bald they are all done with the Daddy business.

[Greg H.]

Reason #3 this wouldn't work. You're closing the barn door after the cow got out. Bald men don't father all that many babies. Young men who may or may not go bald in another 20 years or more are the ones who father babies. By the time those men do go bald they are all done with the Daddy business.

 

Essentially, you would have to find and sterilize all bald men, and all of their descendants, on an ongoing basis, for generations. The problem then becomes - what else did you just select out of the genome without meaning to?

[CharonY]

It depends on the precise genetic basis and I do not think that it is precisely known (I may be wrong, though). However, unless it is a dominant trait, it will be maintained within the population if you just select out bald males.

[Qurios]

Reason #3 this wouldn't work. You're closing the barn door after the cow got out. Bald men don't father all that many babies. Young men who may or may not go bald in another 20 years or more are the ones who father babies. By the time those men do go bald they are all done with the Daddy business.

 

 

The premise is that as soon as the mpb pattern is spotted, the male chose to not have kids.

[MonDie]

Edited because I confused respiratory tract cilia with hair.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die