Subject: a question
Author:
Posted on: 2009-05-08 02:07:00 UTC
for anyone who has some knowledge of microbiology, is it possible for a disease to only infect (and therefore kill) the male members of a species? if not, then i have a charge of bad biology for a fic i will be PPC-ing.
is an MST suitable material for the writing sample required as part of the permission request?
for anyone who has some knowledge of microbiology, is it possible for a disease to only infect (and therefore kill) the male members of a species? if not, then i have a charge of bad biology for a fic i will be PPC-ing.
For instance in the TV show Sliders there was one episode where the characters were in a parallel dimension where most of the men had died due to some biological warfare that only affected men.
If the canon itself already claims something can be done, then it can be done. And the science behind it doesn't have to make as much sense.
Two level six biohazards? What is this fandom?
If it's a virus, it could only affect the Y chromosome, and thus not do anything to females.
Bacteria could be hormone-dependent, possibly...
Evolutionary speaking, being able to spread to as wide of a population as possible is a big advantage, so such a disease would be rather rare.
Now, my knowledge of genetics is rusty, I know, but wouldn't it also be possible for there to be a disease for which the relevant immunity-gene, as it were, is only on the X chromosome and requires two copies to successfully defend against said disease? Then you'd get gender-specific illnesses too.
I suppose it's also possible there could be something on the Y chromosome giving an immunity to some disease or other, meaning only women would be affected, but this seems less likely. I just can't quite articulate why, as I'm half asleep.
Of course, if we're meaning diseases as in hereditary ones, it gets a lot easier to explain. The only infectious disease I can think of that's markedly different between genders is some sexually transmitted diseases, which eg have lots of lovely oozy symptoms in women, but go totally unnoticed in men. Not sure why that's the case though, so can't formulate any principles based on it.
Genetic illnesses can be coded for either on the autosomes (non-sex chromosomes) in which case if you're unlucky enough to have one (in the case of a dominant) or both (in the case of a recessive) chromosomes carry the thing, then you have it, regardless of gender.
If the gene is carried on the X chromosome and you are a girl, then you have two options. If it is a recessive allele you need both of your X chromosomes to have a copy of it before you will show the disease. Otherwise you are a 'carrier' but not a sufferer. If it is a dominant allele, having just one copy is enough. You will have the disease.
If it is carried on the X chromosome and you are a male, then you will have the disease, because there is not a corresponding 'slot' on the Y chromosme to mask it in the case of a recessive (in the case of a dominant, well, you only need one copy to have the disease).
This pattern also follows for non-disease-y traits that are carried on the X chromosome. If a gene is carried on the X chromosomes it is termed X-linked.
If the gene is carried on the Y chromosome exclusively, then only males can get it. Very few diseases are carried this way - the Y chromosome is very small. Traits carried on the Y chromosome are termed Y-linked.
It is an airborne disease. not a genetic problem. thanks anyway, though
You can't entirely separate airborne diseases from genetics though - without genetics you wouldn't have a body for the disease to attack. Plus the principal difference between men and women (aside from the obvious external decorative differences) is the Y chromosome. If an airborne disease is only affecting one sex, it's pretty likely that it's something on X or Y affecting susceptibility.
If you modify Trojie's explanation, it works - rather than considering a disease carried on the X or Y chromosome, consider a gene or collection thereof on one or other of said chromosomes which effectively prevents one sex from either getting your airborne disease, or else from developing symptoms if they're a carrier.
I was replying to a comment about sex-linkage :) Sounded like some clarification would be useful so I thought I'd explain sex-linkage in case it helped.
the suethor has created not one, but two biohazard level 6 disease. basically, they would fall under the same category as a new bio-weapon.
I'm not a PG, obviously, but I'd guess not really. You'll be asking for permission to write missions, and they're done in straight prose, unlike the MST script format. An MST wouldn't really show off your ability to write decent narrative, so it wouldn't be of much use for the PGs.
I'm busy drafting a proper writing sample with the help of Pads, but I can't deny that an MST would make things easier. :P I'd probably stick with the proper thing anyway though.