Coloured horse breeders

[belambi]

Brilliant article.. Note the possibility of a link between colour production and diet!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121402894.html?referrer=emailarticlepg

[RiddleMeThis]

Interesting premise and then I read this "(Though the mice had different mothers, they're genetically identical as a result of inbreeding.)"

And now I'm like well from my knowledge inbreeding WONT get you identical twins. I'm hoping that the author of the article just didn't understand and then tried to explain the best he/she could. Though if anyone can explain that in a way that makes sense, I'd really appreciate it.

[SkipChange]

Hmm yes that is peculiar RiddleMeThis....i'm trying to wrap my brain around that.

[Nootka]

And now I'm like well from my knowledge inbreeding WONT get you identical twins. I'm hoping that the author of the article just didn't understand and then tried to explain the best he/she could. Though if anyone can explain that in a way that makes sense, I'd really appreciate it.

A bit odd, yes. I am of no help to explain...

[irkenequine]

Perhaps mice just don't have as much genetic variability, and maybe inbreeding (and I think they mean it across multiple levels of breeding, not just one backbreed) has brought them close to being identical? At least thats what I hope they mean. I'm thinking/hoping they use the word "identical" to mean "hardly discernible in genetic variances."

[belambi]

It may well mean cloned.

[BravAddict]

Irkenequine is, I think, closest to the truth. Of course individual animals aren't 100.% identical, but lab mice are bred specifically to be homogeneous. It's not that mice generally have low genetic variability...just that strains of laboratory mice do. In any event, the author probably means "Identical in all appreciable ways that might have influenced the coat color."

Plus Saslow's audience is not the same as the audience of a peer-reviewed journal; "cutting corners" like that in the Washington Post for the sake of the readers doesn't put me off the article in general. The research is interesting. Here is the real thing: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12861015?

[Melyni]

Interesting premise and then I read this "(Though the mice had different mothers, they're genetically identical as a result of inbreeding.)"

And now I'm like well from my knowledge inbreeding WONT get you identical twins. I'm hoping that the author of the article just didn't understand and then tried to explain the best he/she could. Though if anyone can explain that in a way that makes sense, I'd really appreciate it.

So the they are probably the result of breeding very closely bred lines of mice (what we would call inbreeding) and are probably litter mates as well. So same sire and dam, plus inbreeding. They will most likely have DNA tested the lines as well to ensure minimal genetic variation in the lines.

I think anyway. I am no expert on mice breeding or genetics, but that's my understanding.
MW