Good points. I tend not to like the straight forward and consistant type models but only because they break down when someone decides they want to do something odd - like the johnny one spells, or some of the aspected magery. Sure you could model them with different genes but that's going to get just as complex just as quickly... and if it's a gene/no gene scenario you have to start making calls on why it doesn't work even if you have the gene - since there is going to be some of that if you want to model something natural (post translational modification problems are going to be able to shut off a gene just as much as not having the gene would). This is where the repeat system seems to have an up (IMO) because you have to take into account population frequencies right off the bat. Now, there is no reason you couldn't do that with a standard genetics system... but for each gene you add you have to start adding different frequencies and then... yuck... complex stats. ;)
Myotonic dystrophy, I knew there was a simpler model the Alzheimers, but I couldn't remember what it was. Thanks vk. Actually high IQ and high magery - just link one of the basic genes for magery to something in the IQ family if you go with a multi-allele model. -Sue ----- Original Message ---- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: The GURPSnet mailing list <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 11:54:35 PM Subject: Re: [gurps] Fake scientific genetics for Magery... Hi all: I scanned this thread just now. I obviously defer to Sue with respect to the genetics. I'm not a big fan of that repeat model being tossed around, BTW, but that's just an opinion. I'm more into developing a multi-allele model-- maybe a more complex eye color model, or the blood ABO +/- Rh model variant-- and plugging in your own numbers using Mendelian inheritance patterns to keep it relatively straight-forward and consistent. That being said, another diagnosis that utilizes a similar model in terms of repeat sequences is myotonic dystrophy. Its genetics may be better mapped out than either Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, since we've had a chance to study it longer, and the clinical manifestations are readily apparent from an early age, as is the severity, which can then be followed from generation to generation, and frequently directly compared. Also, one mechanism of population control that has yet to be addressed regarding auto-selection--> perhaps the combination of IQ and Magery plays a role in this. Low IQ and high Magery lead to critical failures, ultimately keeping numbers down, and leading to a distribution skew towards higher IQ and high Magery? -vk _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
