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| Adam and Eve (Public Domain) |
If there were just one man and one woman left on earth, would they be able to repopulate the human race?
Assuming that this “Adam” and “Eve” each had reproductive capabilities, the answer may still be what Morgan Kinney of Popular
Science calls “a resounding… maybe.”
Known as a genetic "bottleneck situation," this kind of a limited “founder population” can easily lead to lethal gene combinations.
The mathematical odds for this restricted a genetic “lottery are not good.” For example, if a congenital heart condition were to be passed on to the next generation, chances are that these children would not survive for long.
Ditto on a multitude of other congenital diseases that could be fostered by such a small gene pool.
Kinney points out that “other heritable diseases such as sickle cell anemia could potentially ravage the new population.”
Divine intervention, however, is always the “wild card” that can change everything. The field of epigenetics is discovering that aspects of DNA can be turned on or off, according to lifestyle influences.
Therefore, if God’s people choose to live within God’s will, who really knows the extent to which this could strengthen the biochemistry of future generations?
Resources
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/can-two-people-repopulate-earth/ar-BBk0Gfl
Copyright May 25, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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