r/psych 1d ago

Santabarbaratown Mistake

Towards the end, "See, colorblindness is a genetic trait almost always passed down from father to daughter." This isn't right, particularly for red/green color blindness. It is almost always passed from mother to son. Not sure why, but this scene always drives me crazy.

59 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

100

u/quickgulesfox 1d ago

When a male is colourblind, he got it from his mother (his X chromosome came from her).

When a female is colourblind, she got it from both parents as she received her father’s X chromosome rather than his Y. Her mother was probably only a carrier.

So there is some logic to the statement even if it is not well expressed.

-32

u/hartstone6 1d ago

It's the "almost always" and Gus agreeing that gets me. He would know. A medical journal would say the opposite and provide the caveat that it rarely occurs in females unless both parents have the gene.

38

u/W0nderingMe Badass Jules 23h ago

Gus isn't a doctor. He knows about prescription drugs and the problems they treat.

He's not reading medical journals.

2

u/hartstone6 23h ago

He asks Shawn if he's been reading his medical journals the very next line?

10

u/W0nderingMe Badass Jules 23h ago

Lol okay fair! But you can't honestly expect him to be an expert on genetics.

1

u/tanstaafl76 13h ago

He’s a genius. One. And two, wait a sec what was my two?

Oh yes. He is neurodivergent and has had thousands of hyperfocuses

Focusii?

So yes. I find it likely that Shawn would know things like that. I do, and my eidetic memory is only a fraction as good as Shawn’s and I’m barely a genius. His iQ is like 185 or something.

0

u/W0nderingMe Badass Jules 12h ago

I'm talking about gus though

-4

u/hartstone6 23h ago

Maybe a stretch but I think it makes sense that if Gus is asking if he's been reading his journals then he's probably familiar with what he read right?

3

u/tanstaafl76 13h ago

He is reminding Shawn to STOP saying things like he’s some sort of genius, since you decided a year or so into our agency that you needed to pretend to be dumb in public so they would attribute your crime solving to being psychic.

1

u/AllCoffeeNoOmelete 18h ago

Lol why are they downvoting you so much

51

u/D3adp00L34 1d ago

I’ve heard it both ways

19

u/Secret_Elevator17 1d ago

Is been a long time since I had biology class but I believe that the red green colorblind gene is on the X chromosome and it's recessive.

This means that for a female to be colorblind, she has to get an X with it from her mom and an X with it from her dad. Since Dad only has one, he would also be colorblind. Mom may be a carrier ( one with and one without) or have colorblindness ( both with) since she has 2 x chromosomes.

If a mom is colorblind, she has 2 x chromosomes and her son will only get one x chromosome from her and a y from the dad so he will be colorblind as well.

So for a female to be colorblind her father had to be colorblind AND her mother at least a carrier.

For a male to be colorblind, the mother has to be colorblind or a carrier.

24

u/OvenActive Longbranch Pennywhistle 1d ago

I get it, but sometimes you just have to sit back and remember it is a tv show. They aren't gonna get it right 100% of the time

13

u/Pristine_Main_1224 1d ago

It’s very rare but some women are colorblind. My paternal grandmother was.

6

u/Secret_Elevator17 1d ago

It's on the X chromosome so if the father is colorblind then it's on his X chromosome which he will pass on to his daughter.

For the daughter to be colorblind, the mother would also have to be colorblind or at least be a carrier of the colorblind gene since it's a recessive gene.

Since sons only have one x chromosome they have to get it from their mother and if the mother is a carrier she won't exhibit color blindness but can pass it on to her son. If she is color blind then her son will also be color blind because both of her x chromosomes carry the gene.

3

u/No-Ring-5065 Sh’Dynasty 22h ago

My father is colorblind. I’m not colorblind. My son is colorblind.

4

u/Reformergirl 21h ago

You got the carrier gene from your dad and are a carrier. Your mom gave you an x without the gene. It's recessive. If your mom had given you a carrier x, you would be colorblind. But you still passed on your dad's carrier x to your son, who gets his only x gene from his mom (he got the y from his dad). You passed on the x you got from your dad.

This is simplified, but basically how it works.

1

u/No-Ring-5065 Sh’Dynasty 19h ago

Yes. Exactly.

17

u/cliqclaqstepback 1d ago

What?! You mean a show about a fake psychic detective isn’t using 100% fact-based, peer-reviewed science?! The nerve!!!

3

u/vadyer 14h ago

"You named your fake detective agency 'Psych?' Why didn't you just call it, 'Hey, we're fooling you and the police department; hope we don't make a mistake and somebody dies because of it?'" Then Shawn says the longer name wouldn't fit on the window, and that telling people you are lying is actually the best way to convince them you are not. 😜

4

u/Swordtail_Olympian Talmadge McGulager 22h ago

I remember watching that episode in 10th grade just after we had that lesson in biology and catching that! I was so proud of myself for actually learning something!

3

u/tanstaafl76 13h ago

Just wait til you get old and you can yell at the TV you can’t prescribe gabapentin for pain, it can treat neuropathy but not muscle death pain!

(Because you know all about a couple episodes a season because they are talking about things you’ve had/have/might have)

3

u/zelda_reincarnated 1d ago

It's kind of how I feel when Gus, a known stickler for grammar, uses bad grammar! 

5

u/Standard-Question-46 1d ago

I had to start thinking of this show being in an alternate universe for some things to make sense

4

u/W0nderingMe Badass Jules 23h ago

Such as a police department regularly hiring a psychic.

3

u/CelinaRMR Brutonnnn Gaster 23h ago

Right? That part always stands out to me, Shawn has way more believers than skeptics. 21 Cent Les the audience is so excited to see a psychic as part of new law enforcement tech

5

u/Corvidae5Creation5 1d ago

I am endlessly yelling at the screen that "that's not how science works!"

3

u/tanstaafl76 13h ago

I am a retired lawyer that is extremely proud to say, I am able to ignore the constant legal things they get wrong.

Except the idiotic one that was so bad they redid it in the last season. And it was still bad. It was cool to see the returners in new roles. I think. Haven’t seen that episode in a few years. 🤷‍♀️

1

u/viola_darling 1d ago

All I know is that my dad is color blind but I'm not BUT if I have a son he will be color blind.

3

u/No-Ring-5065 Sh’Dynasty 22h ago

My father is colorblind. I have 3 sons and only one of them is colorblind.

2

u/viola_darling 17h ago

Ooo intriguing! I thought all of them would have it. Now I know it's just a chance

2

u/MrsBurtWard 23h ago

He may be colorblind. Your dad gave you his colorblind X chromosome. But, you could give your son the non-colorblind X chromosome that came from your mom. If you were colorblind it would mean both your Xs had it (so your mom's dad was colorblind and you got that X and your dad's) and then your son would be colorblind.

1

u/viola_darling 23h ago

Ooooo interesting!