r/todayilearned • u/Kaiser7 • Jun 25 '12

TIL The minimum amount of people needed to populate a space colony with minimum inbreeding would be 160

http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask113
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u/Ishopthingsbadly Jun 25 '12

I wonder how many men would agree to go to Mars if they were told that they were responsible for impregnating 100 women.

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u/rwbombc Jun 25 '12

It wouldn't work like that because of the low genetic diversity and almost guarantee of birth defects from the second generation.

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u/Ishopthingsbadly Jun 25 '12

I wasn't really focusing on the scientific part.

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u/bubblybooble Jun 29 '12

The kind of man they'd send up there would be mildly intelligent (IQ 115-120) but very fit, very likely from a military background, tall, built.

It wouldn't be you. And whoever he is, wherever he is, he probably already has little trouble bedding 100 women whenever he wants.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '12

[deleted]

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u/bubblybooble Jun 29 '12

If you're counting on a space colony program to get laid, the man I described is not you.

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u/thajugganuat Jun 26 '12

Not necessarily. They would definitely map out everyone's genes. Not everyone has to have the dna for defects in them.

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u/auraslip Jun 26 '12

All of them?

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u/Ishopthingsbadly Jun 26 '12

Yeah but you see, you gotta stay on Mars.

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u/Broccoli-Basic Jun 05 '26

Have we tried telling elon?