4 ms·
just because you want down syndrome to be possible, doesn't mean that it makes sense to bring a down syndrome baby to term.
by ouid 8y ago
just because you want down syndrome to be possible, doesn't mean that it makes sense to bring a down syndrome baby to term.
- ben_w 8y agoShort term/long term; local minima/global minima — of course, now we are developing gene engineering tech we don’t need to rely on natural evolution, but before that was invented, the possibility of stuff like that is the only reason we got multiple chromosomes in the first place.
- saalweachter 8y agoYeah, the point I'm making is not that all mutations are special and natural, which isn't particularly useful: it's that we almost certainly have mutations similar to those that cause Down syndrome in our genetic history, and ancestors who suffered comparable (although presumably different) disadvantages relative to baseline mammals/apes/humans of the day.