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The sperm undergo random crossing-over. The only way you could determine the genetic content of a single sperm would be to isolate it's 3 meiotic sisters, deter
by niels_olson 18y ago
The sperm undergo random crossing-over. The only way you could determine the genetic content of a single sperm would be to isolate it's 3 meiotic sisters, determine their content, and then assume that the remaining spermatozoan contained what was left. Even then you're missing potential thermodynamic mutations that might have escaped the DNA repair process.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiosis
- geuis 18y agoWow that's a great reply. What I get out of that is since each cell can be different (possible mutations) you can't test a statistical sample from the same batch and assume that the one little cell that makes it through to fertilization is 100% safe. Is that a fairly accurate layman's summary?
- niels_olson 18y agoYes. In a deep an profound way, reproduction is the execution of all evolutionary algorithms you've every heard of, all the evolutionary algorithms that exist. It's ultimately pure statistical mechanics.