Idk if this makes sense.

Obviously not via sexual reproduction but could a person’s genetic parents be of the same sex and that person be genetically indistinguishable from the rest of the population?

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    16 days ago

    Interesting question, I found this

    You can’t make a baby with two moms by simply fusing two eggs or adding one egg’s DNA to another’s.  Even though the resulting embryo would have the usual 46 chromosomes, this wouldn’t work.

    The reason isn’t some special string of A’s, G’s, T’s or C’s found in dad’s DNA.  No, instead it has to do with chemical marks found on egg and sperm DNA.  This methylation (as the marks are called) makes the DNA from each parent unique, and you need both to make a baby.

    What these marks do is affect how at least 80 different genes are used.  In science speak, these genes are imprinted.

    As you may remember, we have two copies of each of our genes, one from each biological parent.  The chemical marks shut off either the copy from the egg or sperm, depending on which has the marks present…

    If an embryo’s DNA came from two parents of the same sex, then both copies of some of these imprinted genes will be shut off.  And for the rest of these genes, both copies will be turned on.  Embryos simply can’t survive when so many genes are out of whack. In fact, diseases like Angelman syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome can happen when just one of these genes isn’t passed on properly.

    You can read more here if you’re curious

    • Fleur_@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      174·
      16 days ago

      I feel cheated by this answer because it seems like the limiting factor is in the natural process of embryo development and not in if the genetic material itself is compatible.

      Further in the article it even says it could be possible from 2 sperm cells if you used stem cells to turn a sperm cell into an egg cell? So it is possible then. But only for males? Could you use stem cells to turn an egg cell into a sperm cell and accomplish a similar result from 2 egg cells?

      …I’m left with a strong inconclusive as to whether it’s possible :(

      • L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works
        24·
        16 days ago

        To vastly oversimplify how genetics and embryonic development works, the “default” for humans is female and men have genetic codes that overwrites these defaults during fetal development. To put it more bluntly, males have extra code which females lack.

        That could explain why sperm+sperm could theoretically work using a stem cell as a mediator to remove the excess code, while egg+egg can’t do the same because you’d need to manually scribe the extra genes directly.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
        8·
        16 days ago

        …I’m left with a strong inconclusive as to whether it’s possible :(

        Possible, yes. Possible with current technology and understanding, no.

        The methylation of DNA and other ways that its functionality is modified is something that is studied in epigenetics. Such modifications can also be carriers of heritable traits (ex. a study on Icelandic families found that experiencing famine could change the likelihood of diabetes two generations later). Modifying methylation has also been investigated for treatment of genetic diseases.

        Conceivably, epigenome editing could be used to modify the sperm/egg methylation to make them compatible. But, that’s probably a ways a way from being practical.

      • PunnyName@lemmy.world
        5·
        16 days ago

        It’s likely possible, but not at this stage of humanity. The human genome was only unlocked in the past few decades.

        Gotta remember, the body of science of any field is still itself growing. More information becomes clear all the time. What was once considered impossible is now everyday boring stuff.

        There are limitations to what we can do, and what we know we can do. It isn’t until we test more and try different things and unlock new technologies that the impossible becomes possible.

      • bluGill@fedia.io
        3·
        16 days ago

        It seems like it should be possible but there is a lot that stem cells seem to make possible that realistically we don’t know how to make them do. Only time will tell what we learn how to do.

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        16 days ago

        The answer does say

        The reason isn’t some special string of A’s, G’s, T’s or C’s found in dad’s DNA.

        It’s true that two same-sex parents of either sex have the basic genetic information to create a female child (a male child needs at least one male parent) but the natural process of embryo development is a big deal!

      • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
        1·
        16 days ago

        You seem to fixated on the aspect of feasability.

        Don’t you think there may be good reasons for these limiting factors (even when we have not discovered them)?

        It makes me think that we still don’t know enough about the true meaning of these dna parts.

    • danc4498@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      16 days ago

      This is wildly interesting. I know I’m far from smart, but I would have thought I would have known this by now.

    • Lovstuhagen@hilariouschaos.comEnglish
      4·
      16 days ago

      Great post - I figured that this would be the case based off of the idea that, whether you are male or female, certain markers can only be passed on through father/mother…

      Your haplogroup, for instance, always comes from the father. It would seem to me, then, that things like haplogroups would only be linked to male genetics, and simply smushing together two men’s genetics would result in things like repeat haplogroups and a total lack of mtDNA.

      Perhaps, eventually, technology would exist that could translate the haplogroup of a female into the genetic code necessary for reproductive genetic combination, and likewise extract female-specific reproductive code from a male and do the same… But yeah, I imagine that would also just be the point of full genetic customization from top to bottom, and so the ability to do that would no longer be surprising but simply something that has come to us as a byproduct of advanced gene editing.